
Os 




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REPORT 



OF THE 



PECIAL COMMITTEE 



ON 



OUTDOOR ALM 




Town of Hartford 



A.D. 1891 



HARTFORD, CONN. 
Press of The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company 

1891 



REPORT 






The Special Committee 



ON 



OUTDOOR ALMS 



TOWN OF HARTFORD 



A.D. 1891 



HARTFORD, COOT. 

Press of The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company 

1891 






I think that the hest way of doing good to the poor is not making 
them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. — Benjamin 
Franklin. 

The relief offered to cripples, idiots, blind, or deaf and dumb does 
not tend to increase those evils. The relief that is offered to mere want, 
as want, tends to increase that evil. — Richard Whately. 

In poor-relief the best system is the system that works best. — 
Anonymous. 



f<GV 
&0F 0. 






CONTEXTS. 



REPORT. 

Introductory, ------- v 

Comparisons with various communities in America and Europe, vi 

Growth of pauper population and of expenditure, - - viii 

I. Support: Are the proper persons supported ? xi 

Do the persons supported receive lawful aid ? xiv 

Is the aid temporary ? - - - - - - xvi 

What support has been given ? — 594 orders, - - - xviii 

Have orders been misused ? Recommendation, - - xxi 

II. Care of Sick: Have proper persons been aided ? Recommendation, xxii 

The Town Doctors; a suggestion. .... X xvi 

" Good and competent,'' — a painful subject, - - - xxvii 

III. Rent: Growth; former votes; recommendation, - - - xxx 

IV. Burial of the Dead: Increase; cost; our pre eminence; recom- 

mendation, ------- xxxi 

V. Hospitals: Increase; dangers; out department; life insurance; 

recommendations, ------ xxxiii 

VI. The Insane: Increase; pre-eminence of Hartford and Connecti- 
cut; recommendation, ----- xxxviii 

VII. Orphan Asylums, ------- xli 

VIII. The Almshouse: The building; its inmates; admissions and dis- 
charges; clothing; criminals; cost of 9-4; the remed} r ; rec- 
ommendation, ------- xlii 

IX. General Deductions: A defective system; not thoroughly worked, iviii 
X. General Recommendations: The professional pauper; reform; 

execute the law, ------- lx 

XI. Acknowledgments, ------- Ixii 

XII. Recommendations recapitulated and votes proposed, - - Ixiv 

TABLES. 

I. Hartford compared with 38 American cities, 1885, - - 1 

II. " " " 15 cities in various countries, - 3 

III. " " " 24 Italian communities, 4 

IV. " " " 17 countries in Europe, - - 5 
V. Progress of Population and Pauperism in Hartford, - - 6 

VI. Recapitulation of Town Cases investigated, - - - 7 
VII. Articles drawn on 594 Grocery orders, 9 
VIII. Burials at public expense, Hartford and 30 other cities, - 11 
IX. Cost of Poor Relief with Pauper Population, Medical Attend- 
ance, and Casual Lodgers— A. D. 1874-1890, - - 13 
X. Admissions and Discharges of 12 Inmates of the Almshouse, 15 
XI. Death-rates, contributed by Prof. C. A. Lindsley, M.D., - 18 



IV 



CONTENTS. 



XII. Convictions in the Police Court — 35 Cases — 32 Paupers, - 19 

XIII. Police Department — Arrests during 12 years, - - 20 

XIV. Police Department— Arrests. Trials, and Convictions for 

Drunkenness. Vagrancy, Non-support of Family, etc., — 

by months. 1887-1 ; ... 21 

XV. Convictions in the Police Court twice or oftener — Nov. 1, 

1^2-Jan. 19. 1891, 23 

XVI. Inmates of the Almshouse: Statistics. - 25 

XVII. Condensed Clothing Account of 16 Males in the Almshouse, 25 

XVIII. " " " " 4 Female- 25 

XIX. Town Patients in City Hospital. I Number and Cost, 

XX. From the Selectmen, — Grocers, amounts paid them, etc., - 27 

APPENDIX A. 

I. Present laws concerning support and legal settlement, 

together with judicial interpretations of the same, - 29 

II. Development of the law relating to the poor and to pauper 

rnent in Connecticut, ----- 34 

III. Development of Connecticut laws in the matter of illitera 

idleness, vagrancy, drunkenness, and the like, - - 39 

IV. Earliest action of Hartford in the matter of settlement and 

the care of poor and sick, - - - - 44 

V. Digest of votes passed by the town of Hartford concerning 

the Almshouse and Workhouse, 46 

VI. Sketch of the development of the English poor-law, - - 52 

VII. Poor-laws in France, Germany, and Switzerland, 

VIII. Worcester and the Massachusetts poor-laws, 61 

IX. Statistics of Insanity. ------ 63 

X Sir Morrell Mackenzie on the use and abuse of Hospitals, - 65 
XI. Letters on Poor-relief, suppression of outdoor alms, etc., from: 

Sir Morrell Mackenzie. London. 66 

President Seth Low, New York, 66 

Mr. Wm. Vallance, London, 67 

Mr. George Rooke. Manchester, 69 

Mr. O. Caetani, Syndic of Rome, 73 

Mr. E. Peyron. Director of Public Aid, Par:- - 75 

Wm. S. Stokley, Director Dep't Public Safety, Phila., - 77 
E. A. Merrick, Gen'l Sup't House of Correction and 

: -rmation, Philadelphia, 77 

XII. Food-values: opinion of Prof. R. B Riggs. Ph.D.. Trin. Coll., 78 

XIII. Bills of Fare, three almshouses and one Soldiers' Home, 

XIV. Authorities, - - - - - - -84 

APPEXDIX B. 
Copy of Evidence relative to Dr. J. J. S. Doherty, - - B 

APPENDIX C. 

Schedule and Bill of Instruments, books, etc., bought by 

J. J. Morrissey, M.D., - - - - 91 



INTRODUCTORY. 



At the annual adjourned town-meeting held on the 27th 
day of October. A. D. 1890, a resolution was offered* limiting 
the selectmen to an expenditure of $15,000 for outdoor alms 
during the current year. An amendment was proposed! 
and accepted fixing the amount at $25,000, and the resolu- 
tion, thus amended, was adopted. Thereupon a vote was 
proposed} and carried directing the chairman§ to appoint a 
committee to confer with the selectmen in the matter of 
outdoor alms with instructions to report at a future meet- 
ing to be called for that purpose. On the 9th of November, 
the undersigned were informed that the chairman had ap- 
pointed them, and they at once entered upon the duties of 
their honorable but, as the event has shown, somewhat 
difficult office. 

Their commission directed them to confer with the se- 
lectmen. In order to confer it was necessary that an opin- 
ion should have been formed. In order to form an opinion 
an examination into the facts of the case seemed necessary, 
and a cursory examination soon led to the discovery that all 
the parts of the system of alms administration are so bound 
together that the examination of one part carries with it 
the examination of the whole. Your committee could not, 
therefore, limit themselves to the literal terms of their 
commission, which assigned outdoor alms as the subject of 
their conference with the selectmen, but were forced to 
examine with care the other branches of public aid also. 

THE GENERAL SITUATION. 

The general situation was found to be as follows :|| In Hartford and 
1885, Hartford was paying $2.07 for each man, woman, and cities. 
child of its population, in poor-relief. New Haven was 
paying $1.30; Bridgeport, $1.03; Waterbury, $0.81; Nor- 
wich, $1.54; Xew Britain, $1.39 — and so on; for twelve 



* By Rev. Professor J. J. McCook. t By ex-Lieut. Gov. W. H. Bulkeley. 

: By Gov. M. G. Bulkeley. § J. M. Allen. 

| See Appendix, Table I. 



vi BEPOBT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

Connecticut cities an average of $1.22 per capita against 
our $2.07 : and with Hartford far ahead of her nearest com- 
petitor, For outdoor relief the figures were similar — Hart- 
ford, 90 cents per capita; XewHaven. 51 : Norwalk, 23, and 
so on: an average for the twelve of 61 cents per capita, 
with only one higher— Hartford in the lead again by 

rr cent, Five Massachusetts cities, including Boston, 
Worcester, and Lowell, average $1.16 for all relief against 
our $2.07, and 24 cents for outdoor relief against our 

snts. Five other New England cities, including Provi- 
dence and Bangor, average 33 cents for all relief against 
our $2.07, and 12 cents for outdoor against our 90 cents. Four 
New Tori New York cities, New York, Brooklyn, Buffalo, and Alba- 
aties. n ^_ avera g e >33 cents against our $2.07, and 43 cents again>t 

our 90 cents. Five cities in Pennsylvania and Maryland. 
Middle states, including Philadelphia. Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, average 
- cents against our $2.07, and 4 cents against our 90 cents. 
and Seven Western and Southern cities, including Chicago. 
3 ::b> Cleveland. Detroit. Milwaukee, and Charleston, averag- 

cents for all relief against our $2.07, and IT cents against 
our 90 cents. 

That is to say. Connecticut was found leading th^ van. 
and Hartford leading Connecticut. And in each case thy 
gap so Tvide that no theory of errors could conceivably close 
it up'. Examine carefully Table I of the Appendix. 

But possibly a comparison with other communities, ven- 
erable and conservative like our own. communities acr ss 
the sea. would present a different showing and vindicate us! 
German cities. Look, then, at Germany as you find it in our Table EL* 
Here are seven cities, including Berlin. Dresden, and Stutt- 
gart, with an aggregate population of 2,017,217. Stuttgart 
pays 93 cents for all relief as against our $1.96 (the average 
for 1890), and 11 cents for outdoor relief as against our 74 
cents; Dresden 80 cents and 29 cents respectively: Berlin 
SI. 58 and 54 cents, as against our -SI. 96 and 74 cents. And 
they are complaining there of carelessness and waste! The 
average of these Teutonic communities is $1.31 against 



* The Dresden statistics are compiled from the TericalUingsbericht des JBaO 
KonigUchen Maupt-und JRt*idenzstadt Dresden, auf das TakrlSBQ. The rest are from 
Jka ArmauBaat in 77 Deutsche* StadUn. etc.. by Dr. Victor Bohmert : Dresden 
The compilation has been made with the greatest care and with special anxiety to 
equalize the terms of the comparison. From this point we take Hanford as she is in 
189C 



REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. Vll 

our SI. 96; and 47 cents againt our 74 cents. So we lead 
them, too, by about 50 per cent. — in pauper population, also, 
no less than in cost; for here one man in 16.1 is a pauper, 
while there only one in 25.6 is. 

And now a still severer test. Take up some of the largest a mixed list, 
cities of both continents,* throw in a few smaller ones, and 
set them side by side with Hartford, and see what the re- 
sult is. Here, in one point, Hartford is compelled with 
shame to take a second place. Those cities, with their 
aggregate of 9,539,598 inhabitants, pay $3.35 per capita for 
all help, and tax themselves, as nearly as we can ascertain, 
for $3.02 per capita, while we pay only $1.96 and tax our- 
selves for only $1.89. But our case is not altogether hope- 
less even here. Paris and London, with their great conges- 
tion of population and poverty, can do much to humiliate 
us, but not everthing! In outdoor relief, with which this 
report is specially concerned, we lead them with our 74 
cents per head as against their 71; and whereas they can, 
in the aggregate, boast of but 5.25 per cent, pauper popula- 
tion, we have 6.2; so that, while every sixteenth man, 
woman, or child we meet on the street here is liable to be a 
recipient of municipal bounty, we must pass 19 there before 
we find one. 

But surely we shall find some comfort when we turn to Italy. 
Italy !f And so it turns out — but only in one matter, that 
of gross expenditure for help. With respect to this observe, 
too, — and carry the same observation to the study of other 
foreign cities, and especially of Paris, — that this item covers 
large endowments, which correspond, of course, to what we 
do by private initiative. Here, even, we exceed eight com- 
munities. But the average of the twenty-four is $3.42 
against our $1.96. But when it comes to taxation averages, 
we outstrip Naples, with her $1.12 per head, by our $1.89; 
and, for outdoor relief, with our 73 cents we easily distance 
her with her puny 35 cents! Rome fares a little better. 
Her $1.62 per capita is behind our $1.89; but her 76 cents for 
outdoor relief leaves us three cents per head in the rear. 
Palermo, however, we easily beat. What is her $1.19 com- 
pared with our $1.89, or her 38 cents in comparison with our 
73! And yet Palermo is a city of 205,712 inhabitants — and 
is in Sicily. 



See Table II. t Table III. 



Till 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



17 Countries. 



Pauper pop- 
ulation. 



Cost. 



But let us not stop at details. The average of the M 
Italian cities is behind ours. They have been paying in 
taxes only $1.66 per capita against our |1.8 for all relief: 
and 71 cents for outdoor aid. as against our 73.* Five years 
ago we could have beaten them by far more handsome mar- 
gins, as our first table shows. Unfortunately, the authority 
we quote makes no complete returns of the pauper popula- 
tion. But the result in the case of the other European cities 
above alluded to leads us to conclude that the result would 
in this also be the same. 

Is it, therefore, over-hazardous to venture the guess that 
Hartford would be found leading the world in respect to her 
largesses to the indigent? Let us see. Turn to table IV. 
There you will find 17 countries, including France, parte : 
the German Empire, the Scandinavian peninsula and 
Great Britain. In pauper population. Hartford's percentage 
is 6.2; their average is 3.30. In them, every thirtieth man 
is a pauper; here, every sixteenth. Xor are the Ti- 
to cost more reassuring. Unfortunately, these are not com- 
plete. But in the British Isles, with a population of 
38,000,000, they spend $1.07 on an avera._ _ 
lief, while we spend $] We hear much of the destitution 

in Ireland. Their pauper percentage is. h 
against our 6.2, and |1.72 is spent per capita on relief by 
them, where we spend $1. Scotland, with her hard soil 

and chilly climate, shows but 1.93 per cent, pauper popula- 
tion, and 93 cents per capita in all relief — just one-half what 
we pay, and less than one-third our pauper population. 

So then the situation was beyond doubt. Hartford was 
leading the old world as well as the new: 



GROWTH OF PAUPER POPULATI 

!N"or was this all. Still another occasion for disquietude 
was discovered in the growth of our pauper population, and 
of the public expenditures in its support. Table V exhibits 
some of the facts. And let it be stated here, though the 
fact is of application everywhere, that we have not con- 
sciously chosen our cities and countries with the view of 
establishing a theory. In every case we have obtained such 
facts as were attainable, and arranged them with conscien- 



* See Table III., compiled directly from the Asuvmaarm Stall I _ ; 

Beruficcuza ed Assistcnza FabUica : Rome. V8&i 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. IX 

tious care, in no instance knowing how they were going to 
turn out. And the facts have been left precisely as they 
turned out" to tell their own story. By choosing certain 
years we could have made Hartford's showing less favor- 
able absolutely; by choosing certain cities and countries we 
could have made it far worse relatively. Here, then, what 
do we find? Dortmund gains 3.76 per cent, in population Dortmund, 
annually from 1874 to 1885-6; 15 per cent, in pauper popula- 
tion and 9.89 per cent, in expenditure annually. Hartford 
gains 2.06 per cent, annually in population, from 1870 to 
1890; 5.76 per cent, in pauper population from 1881 to 1890, 
and 27.79 per cent, in expenditure annually from 1870 to 
1890. So Dortmund gains in population one and three- 
quarters times as fast as we; in pauper population, two 
and a half times as fast; and we surpass her by nearly three 
times in increase of expenditure. This is the least favor- 
able in its showing of all the German cities. In Berlin the Berlin. 
gain in population for nine years was 4.11 per cent, per 
year; in pauper population 81.2 per cent.; in expenditure 
9.23 per cent.; i. e. in general population, double our rate; 
in pauper population If times; in expenditure, one third 
ours. Take Whitechapel Union, in the very worst part of Whitecnapei. 
London. From 1871 to 1890, the population has fallen off 
annually three-tenths of one per cent., the pauper popula- 
tion 3.51 per cent., and the expenditure 1.25 per cent. We 
have gained during the latter half of the same period, in 
number of paupers two and three-fourths times as rapidly 
as in population; they have lost ten times as rapidly. 
We have gained in expenditure nearly fourteen times as 
rapidly as in population; they have lost four times as 
rapidly. Even London itself has lost in pauper population London, 
fifteen times as fast as she has gained in general population, 
and has gained in expenditure at just one-tenth the rate of 
her gain in population. Then look at Brooklyn and Phila- Brooklyn and 
delphia. The former reduces her outdoor pauper popula- p^ 1 ^ 61 " 
tion from 35,000 to nothing, between 1872 and 1880. The lat- 
ter cuts her down to next to nothing * between 1875 and 1880, 
and reduces her indoor paupers by 42.4 per cent, from 
1875 to 1884. We raise our total pauper population from 
1881 to 1890 by 51.8 per cent., which is almost exactly the 
rate also for both our indoor and outdoor gain. Brooklyn 



Only 184 in 1890, vide Table II. 



X REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

cuts down her expenses for outdoor aid to 0: Philadelphia 
reduces her's for all aid by 42.1 per cent. We raise our ex- 
penses in 20 years '277.9 per cent. And let it be noted that, 
owing to the lack of printed reports, we are compelled to 
begin our term for measurement of pauper population at a 
time when the rate of increase in expenditure, and there- 
fore it may be presumed in number of paupers, had begun 
to fall off somewhat in rapidity, f 

This swiftness of increase in our pauper population, and 
in the amounts expended in its aid was. then, most real, 
both absolutely and relatively. And. indeed, it was felt to 
be the most impressive and alarming of all the symptoms 
of the case. A comparison with other cities, even in our 
own country, might mean but little, owing to real or alleged 
difference in circumstances. But here there was no room 
for doubt. Twenty years had not destroyed the identity of 
our town. There had been no striking change in its popula- 
tion, its industries, the essential character of its people suf- 
ficient to account for this colossal change in the rate of its 
poor expenditures. Manufactures had not fallen off. Pub- 
lic and private enterprises had not been at a stand-still. 
Institutions and organizations for charity and mutual 
help had multiplied, and the amounts distributed by them 
annually in benefaction had multiplied : the cost of the 
necessaries of life and of rent had been greatly reduced. 
Even immigration had fallen off or changed in its com- 
plexion in a direction favorable to economy. And yet here 
was this great increase, surpassing every other town or 
place of which we had definite knowledge — surpassing 
even itself from year to year in default of other serious 
rival, down to 1889, when a small reduction was seen. 

Such was the general situation which confronted your 
committee — disquieting, indeed, but not hopeless. For might 
it not be that these great expenditures, these unheard of 
gains, were justified by the actual facts of the case ? And 
so we said, " Let us look into the facts of the case. It may be 
that we have been helping only proper persons in a proper 
way, if so, our prominence herein is but an additional dis- 
tinction.'" For we are all of one mind when it is question of 

t The town doctors are found testifying at the beginning of this term that the 
number of persons applying to them for assistance had increased by 50 per cent, with- 
in the two previous years. Report of 1881, p. 11. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XI 

timely aid to unfortunate and deserving members of our 
community. The limit of a town's ability to give is in that 
casevthe sole limit of its duty. 

Go with your committee, then, as they attempt to tell The facts. 
you what they found to be the plain facts in the different 
branches of our Poor Administration. And let us begin 
where their commission begins, with 

OUTDOOR ALMS. 

This includes, according to our methods of classification, 
which seem to be accurate and scientific, all persons helped 
without leaving their homes. It falls naturally under four 
heads, Support, Medical Treatment, Rent, and Interment. 

I. 

SUPPORT. 

We first inquired, "Are the proper persons supported ? " First ques- 
The question was one of law and of fact, and to be answered tKm - 
by an appeal to law and to fact. What, then, is the law ? The law, Cap. 
"All persons who have not estate sufficient for their sup- l^^&k- 
port and have no relations of sufficient ability who are ob- sion of 1888. 
liged by law to support them, shall be provided for and sup- 
ported at the expense of the town where they belong ; and 
every town shall maintain and support all the poor inhabi- 
tants belonging to it." The beneficiaries are to be "poor," 
therefore; "without sufficient estate" ; without "able rela- 
tives " in the direct line ; and they are to ' ' belong " to the 
town ; to be " inhabitants " of it. 

They are to be " poor." There are many degrees of pov- Meaning of 
erty. The French use two words to cover those who come poor * 
within the operation of their laws — necessitous (necessi- 
teux) and indigent {indigent). For the first, temporary 
help is required ; for the second, help more or less perma- 
nent. We use but one word — poor. The majority of us 
live from hand to mouth, and might, perhaps, not unjustly 
be called poor. But the great majority of those who so live 
would resent the application to them of the title "poor" in 
the sense of the statute. And probably not even the most 
lavish administrator of our poor-laws would contend that 
every poor person, in any and every sense of the word, is 
entitled to public support. 

But we are not left to the ambiguities of our language. 
As is more fully explained in the Appendix * to our report, 

* P. 31. 



Xll REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

Judicial inter- the word has received judicial interpretation. It means 
pre non. literally without resource : destitute of the necessaries of 

life and of the means of obtaining them. The man or 
woman who has work, or can get work sufficient for sup- 
port, who has income or available means of any kind which 
can be drawn upon to repel want, has no right to the public 
bounty. In fact, any other interpretation of the law must 
inevitably in time produce utter demoralization and disor- 
ganization in society. For. let it once be understood that 
the public treasury is open to those who feel poor, or call 
themselves poor, or are comparatively poor, and the result 
is easy enough of prediction. 

The fact?. The 712 different families, then, with those B99 adults 

and 1,217 children who last year received support in goods, 
groceries, coal, etc., etc. — were they "poor" in this judi- 
cial sense of the word ? A question of fact, not of senti- 
ment, plainly. 

The answer came through the separate inspection of the 
cases. Your committee sent a plow through them in three 
different directions, and in every instance the outcome was 
substantially the same. There were 320 cards in the sev- 
eral pigeon-holes of the first selectman's office on the 1st of 
January, 1891. These represented the current cases of 

One name in relief for that date. One name in twenty was taken, with- 
30 examined - out discrimination, and handed to Mr. Geo. B. Thayer, the 
superintendent of the Organized Charities Association, and 
he was charged to examine each case with scrupulous care, 
and to report to us in detail. He found 6 of the i 
worthy: -A (24#) cases properly for the almshouse, if helped 
at all ; 7 (4K) who needed no aid. 

Three initials. Then the D's, M's, and Mac's were given him. as being 
among the more common initials. The 20 D's resulted 
thus: 9 (35#) worthy, S (30#) almshouse cases. 9 (35#) un- 
worthy. The M's showed 23$ worthy. 15£ proper for alms- 
house. 62# needed no aid. The Mac's showed life worthy. 
26^ for almshouse, 63$ no aid needed. 

43 names. Forty-three names from all parts of the alphabet had 

been already sent the society for investigation. Of these 
23$ were reported to us to be worthy. 19# to be cases for 
the almshouse, 58$ to need no aid. 

222 names. There remained 222 names, and these finally were ex- 

amined. Among them 2o^o were found worthy. M$ cases 




REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Xlll 

for the almshouse, and 51$ needed no aid. Of 353 examined, 
89, or 25#, were found to be worthy ; 83, or 24$, were cases for 
the almshouse, and 181, or 51$, were judged to need no aid. 
Mr. Thayer's standard should be explained. He thought, standard. 
and so estimated, that if $6 or $7 per week was being 
earned by the head of a family where there were not more 
than two or three small children, the help of the town 
should not be granted. And when one remembers how 
many respectable and respected heads of families there are 
in Hartford who by their utmost efforts can not earn more 
than that, on the average, year in and year out, and yet 
have never once dreamed of thinking themselves entitled 
to town aid, one cannot but call the standard reasonable. 
He noted 47 cases, with families ranging from 3 to 7, out of 
which 33 were enjoying an income of from $9 to $12 per 
week, 5 from 812 to $15, 8 from $15 to $20, and 1 over $20. 

He stumbled upon two cases to which the title unworthy Two cases, 
seems to apply with unusual force, and the facts concern- 
ing which are disputed by no one. One of these has been 
disposed of in open court. The other is that of a notorious 
character — a prostitute for many years; more recently 
living in open adultery ; and a confirmed drunkard. All 
persons who have had any experience in administering 
charities are aware of the dangers of imposition. They are 
far more apt to lament their shortcomings than to boast of 
their successes. And, therefore, the only significance of Their only sig- 

nificance 

these, or any such cases, seems to us to be in the light which 
they may happen to throw upon the care displayed by our 
officials in investigating applications at the beginning and 
in renewung the investigation afterwards. It is proper, 
then, to note that this person was first helped July 19, 1879 
— before the term of office of the present first selectman 
began — and last, March 14, 1891. The total given by the 
town is $264.75, of which $246.75 has been paid since 1886, 
i. e. during the incumbency of the present first selectman. 
Aid was withdrawn in both cases as soon as the facts be- 
come known. The same is true concerning many of the 
cases. Our present report is based upon facts as they were 
at or near the beginning of this present year. 

Our first question concerning support is, therefore, to be Answer to first 
thus answered — 51 per cent, of the beneficiaries of the ( i uestl0n - 



XIV REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

town were not proper persons to be supported because not 
poor in the sense of the statutes. * 

Next question. Were the remaining Jf9 per cent, properly, i. e. legally, 
supported ? 

Let us see whether the law meets any of their cases. In 

Only tempora- Section 3296 of the Statutes we read, "All persons supported 

outX£ p01t by any town shall be supported in an almshouse or other 

Sec S 3296 eS ' pl ace > or places provided by such town, but nothing in this 

section shall be construed to prevent towns from giving 

temporary aid to any persons in need of partial support." 

Reason for the The reasonableness of this law is obvious. The support of 
the poor is at best a burden, however cheerfully it be borne. 
And whatever regulation makes the burden less heavy to 

(i) Economy that great multitude of already heavily-burdened citizens 
ers. axpay "who are by no means rich but are self-respecting and self- 
helpful, and who are all of them in some way taxpayers, 
provided that regulation be honest and humane, is to be ap- 
proved. Now it is plainly far more economical to support 
a number under one roof than the same number scattered 
hither and thither. The first cost, of house and furni- 
ture and salaries of officials, is very heavy, and it does not 
grow with the (reasonable) increase of inmates, f Again, 

(2) inspection, persons thus supported are under steady inspection. What 

the taxpayer gives them goes as he means it to go, and 
as he has a right to make sure it should go — not for luxu- 
ries, not for crime, but for the decent necessaries of life. And, 

(3) Check upon i as t of all, help given thus brings with it its own proper 

pauperism. 

limitations. When it is a question between leaving home 
and friends for a strange building and unknown, possibly 
disagreeable associates, with the stigma of pauperism 
openly attached, many a person will recoil who in fact does 
not require public aid, and who is sure to be better without 
it. The instinct of self-help, dormant for the moment, will 
be stimulated to new activity. Relatives perhaps will come 
to the rescue rather than see the doors of the almshouse 
close upon those who bear their name. And thereby the 



*Itis quite possible, and in fact probable, that Mr. Thayer made mistakes, and, 
in consequence, that this percentage is too high. But he did examine the cases, it 
seems, bringing to the work average intelligence and applying what appears to be a 
reasonable standard. That any equally careful examination has been made before for 
several years there is every reason to doubt. The selectmen have withheld from us 
the name of their " Examiner," and have only stated that they paid him $30 or $40 
for his services last year. 

+ Compare cost at Soldiers' Home with that at almshouses : p. li and Ap. p. 80. 




REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. IV 

community will be saved a burden, which it ought only to 
bear in the- last extremity, and the individual also will be 
benefited. This is recognized by the managers of our Sol- Example of 
diers' Homes. That colossal charity, which has its efficient Hom?. 
headquarters in our city,* declines all but absolutely to give 
aid save under its own roofs. Out of a total of $2,567,477 
spent by it in 1890, only $31,515 went for "outdoor relief 
and incidentals" combined. \ A few years ago some mis- 
guided friend of the soldier presented a bill in our House of 
Representatives providing that any disabled soldier might 
accept a money-equivalent in lieu of board, lodging, and 
clothing in the Home. The bill would probably have 
passed the House unanimously, but the directors saw in 
it eventual waste, universal pension, and the utter demor- 
alization of their present admirable sytem. They therefore 
opposed it in committee to such effect that it was finally 
left without a friend. 

And such has been the wisdom of our ancestors here, as wisdom of 
well as the fixed policy of the general law. In 1822, it was tbe aDcieDts - 
established as a by-law and rule that, "All the poor whom 
this town is liable by law to support shall be placed in the 
almshouse, and in case any one who applies for assistance 
shall refuse to receive his support there when in a situation 
to be removed to it, such refusal shall be prima facie evi- 
dence that he is not in want of aid." J And again in 1880, 
the following was passed in town meeting: "Resolved, 
That the selectmen be and they are hereby instructed to 
give more careful attention to the management of the alms- 
house and outdoor alms." 

But the plea of economy is raised. "We give a dollar "Economy." 
or a dollar and a half a week at home, where it would cost 
$2 or $2.50 at the almshouse." The reply is prompt. The 
addition of fifty more inmates will not increase the cost 
proportionately. Moreover, the refusal to help except at the 
almshouse will serve as a deterrent to applications for help. 
A large proportion of the fifty now supported at home will 
refuse support altogether. They will not go to the alms- 
house in any event. This is the First Selectman's opinion. 



* Gen. W. B. Franklin is president, and has given us most courteous help. 

t Report for 1890, p. 12. 

X The statutory proviso was added concerning temporary aid where economy 
suggests it. But the rule cannot be crowded out by the exception. See below, p. 16, 
for the current interpretation of " Temporary." For the above and other votes see 
Appendix, p. 48. 



XVI REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

He tell? us that in a majority of cases help would be 
altogether refused if thus conditioned. And in the cases of 
persons living alone, or of childless aged couples., there is 
surely no excessive hardship in presenting this alternative. 
And such " recisely is said to be the case of all. or the greater 
part of the S3 above described as being persons who should 
be helped, if at all. in the almshouse. 

But it is objected that only temporary help is given, any- 
how, to these outside cases, and that this is legal as well as 
:al. This objection has come to us. in perfectly 
1 faith, we do not doubt, from the office of the First 
Selectman. Temporary help is manifestly legal when 
economy and humanity may be consulted thereby. We 
should be the last to question this proposition. But as to 
whether the help now given is commonly temporary, we 
must be allowed to express a doubt. 

Is it Temporary A 

A. L. Shipman. Esq.. under our direction, made a par- 
tial examination of the outdoor books of the selectmen with 
a view to the ascertainment of the facts in this question. 
is. in substance, his summary ; " There wei rsons 

whose names appear for the first time in ut of a total 

of 378 names " — 17.5 per cent. That does not look quite like 
temporary. Xor are the details more convincing. A certain 
number of pages in the 1890 account, taken at random, and 
the accounts copied consecutively, give the following : 

^™ ! C ° Y:^ e ReTe^ed. Average per year. 

No. 1 15 $930.20 For 

•' 2 11 372.65 

" 3 18 829. 40 

4 9 618.58 

" 5 4 ~- 69 

' B 5 173.49 

' 7 14 7*35.50 

"8, 17 772 - 

" 9,.--. 13 1,522 34 

"10 2 vo.oo 

"11 7 537.49 

12 14 469.13 

-: 3-2 114.96 

"14 10 606.67 

"1-5 10 916.70 

"16 13 ;■: v 

"'I-, 7 504.63 

'"IS, 4 154.00 



11 vears, 


$81 is 


5 '• 


65 68 


15 •' 


52.01 






4 * ( 


124.69 


2 " 


62.47 


14 «' 


54.64 


17 " 


51.30 


12 " 


122.48 


2 


41.00 


3 


76.78 


14 " 


33.51 


2 


47 . 60 


10 " 


66.67 


10 " 


91.67 


13 " 


7 07 


~ < ■ 


66.69 


4 " 


S8.5C 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XV11 

Of these, No. 1 was a widow. She cost the town $81.15 
per year for 11 consecutive years. No. 2 was a widow with 
one qhild. He was a youth of 24 at the beginning, and 
numbered some 37 years in 1891. No. 3 is a childless couple 
separated b} r death three years ago. No. 4, a widow, had 
one child 13 years old in 187G. In 1891 this child was 28 
years old. No. 5 was a widower with four children aged 

15, 13, 10, and 7 at the beginning. They were 19, 17, 14, and 
11 in 1890. The father died in 188G. No. 6 was a married 
couple with one 11-months-old child at the beginning. The 
child was 15 in 1890. No. 7 was a widow with six children. 
Likely enough she needed help in 1879, when her little ones 
were 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, and 1. But it seems to have been over- 
looked here, as in so many cases, we fear, that time was 
flying, for in 1890 the children were 22, 20, 18, 17, 15, and 13, 
if indeed they all survived, and yet the help had fallen off 
only from $75 to $55. No. 8 had four children. They were 

16, 7, 6, and 3 at the beginning. And they, too, grew old 
apace without observation, for the mother had $67 in 1890, 
when the children were 31, 22, 21, and 18, as against $39.50 
fifteen years before. No. 9 was apparently a childless mar- 
ried pair. For 12 successive years they drew $122.48 per 
year on the average — which hardly seems temporary and 
not even economical. The next is a widower. The next, 
husband and wife with children. They draw $91.50, when 
the children are 18, 16, and 14, as against $62.49 when they 
were 12, 10, and 8. The next is a widow with one child, 
whose age is not given. For 14 successive years $33.51 on 
the average is paid here. In this and several of the cases, 
it should in justice be remarked, the amounts vary from 
year to year more or less, showing that care was not en- 
tirely lacking. But most of them show, it seems to us, 
absence of proper regard either to the letter or the spirit of 
the laws just quoted as to temporary support. The terms 
range from 2 to 17 years, and average 8|; the annual allow, 
ances range from $7.07 to $124.69, and average $64.92. Five 
of the twelve cases were, in our judgment, pretty clearly 
cases for the almshouse, if to be helped at all. In cer- 
tainly three others, apart from very exceptional circum- 
stances, the growth of the children should have led to the 
curtailment or the withdrawal of help. So at least it appeared 
to us; and we have called the attention of the selectmen to 



XVlli REPOET OF THE COMMITIII 

Recommend- this state of facts, urging the importance of a more literal 
construction of the law. and a more frequent revision of 

What Support 

We have seen the law and its interpretati : n. The com- 
munity undertakes only to defend the life of its memlx - 
It bears the additional load thus imposed upon it gladly: 
but does it much as the locomotive suffers the great weight 
upon the rim of its driving-wheel — to carry an integral and 
necessary part of its machinery past its dead point. It is 
contrary to public policy that any member of the com- 
munity should be in danger of perishing by want. II 
similarly contrary to public policy that the industrious and 
--If -supporting part of the community should be .led 

to contribute toward this object out of their hard earni _- 
anything but the merest necessaries of life. So the law has 
been uniformly interpreted by our Supreme Court.* It 

The support then a very proper and pertinent question. Ha 
~ 1Yeu " ficiaries of the town b< ving other than I 

of life/ What they have in fact been receivin_ - 

upon various dealers, chiefly _ provisions for 

necessary support only "' ) runs the form printed on the 

blank — to the amount of one dollar, one and a half. 
— more or less, as the case may be. And the very f«;.rm. it 
will be observed, con - the principle enunciated by us 

above, that nothing but the necessaries of life ought 
be furnished by the town. It is a rule of thr ffi that the 
articles received on these orders shall be endorsed upon 
them, with their price : and your committee unde: I 
ascertain precisely what had been drawn upon a specified 
number by examining the endorsements thereon. It was 

Endorsements thought that 600 orders taken at random, representing as 

examined, fogy would not far from one-twentieth of the whole, would 

fairly represent the whole. The result is given in full in 

Table vii of the Appendix together with the opinion : 

Opinion of Professor R. B. Riggs. Ph.D. . of Trinity College. State chem- 

rof. ogge. j^ concerning the food value of the articles ordered. + This 

is. in brief, that "the total drawn for articles of necessary 

support on the basis of economy, is -$246.35. or 33.6 per cent.. 

leaving a balance of $486.19, or 66.4 per cent., for art: 



* See Appendix p. 31. 
tSee Appendix. ; R3 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XIX 

which either do not belong to the necessary supporl cate- 
gory or are valuable but expensive nutrients." And we feel 
sure that this scientific verdict will command the assent of 
every householder. 

Among the 13*2 separate articles drawn, we found bananas, 132 Separate 
lima beans, berries, broma. cakes (21 times), candy, cash. artlcles - 
cash unspecified (22 times), catsup, citron, cocoa, cocoanut, 
coffee (156 times). (Java and Mocha mixed, 2 times), canned 
corn (25 times), crackers, one of the very dearest forms of 
bread (225 times), cranberries, cream, dates, doughnuts, Samples. 
eggs (185 times, often in winter), Pillsbury flour, pastry- 
flour, ginger, ginger-snaps, jelly, lemons, canned lobster, 
molasses, nutmegs (S times), nuts, oranges, orange crisps, 
green peas, canned peaches, pickles (17 times), pie, pineapple, 
new potatoes as early as June 14. raisins, canned salmon, 
sardines, bottles of sauce, canned succotash, syrup, tea 
(284 times), tobacco. The names of some of the articles 
were new to your committee. There were several kinds of 
cakes and sweet crackers, and goodies of that sort, the in- 
troduction to which came to them through the list of articles 
furnished to the Hartford poor. The total of absolutely use- 
less articles is perhaps not very great nor the amount spent 
upon them formidable. But it should be remembered here Represent 
that this is but one-twentieth of the whole year's business. y e" ar '° busi- 
Each different grocer was found to bring his contingent of ness - 
new articles. And could all the ten or twelve thousand 
orders have been analyzed the list of mere delicacies or 
fooleries would have swollen largely. One of our most 
fashionable grocers* tells us that he has about 1,650 articles 
invoiced for his trade. Of these one-third are used steadily. 
The remainder are fancy. That the whole of the 1,550, in- 
cluding all of the " fancy " things, would be found to have 
been sampled by our needy fellow-citizens we hardly be- 
lieve, but that they would come somewhere near it we can 
not well doubt. Xor in things commonly deemed necessary No proper 
had a reasonable and proper measure been observed. If any piopor K 
one of us were to give a person who claimed to be in neces- 
sitous circumstances, an order for five dollars' worth of 
groceries to be charged to his own private account, we think 



*He had remarked the predilection for the luxuries of life sometimes manifested 
by the supposed needy. People to whom " useful " things have been given at Christ- 
mas by their benevolent friends often come and ask to exchange them for all sorts of 
luxuries. 



XX BHTOO OF THE WJUUTTKK. 

he would not be pleased if lie ^-Tr to discover that more 
than IS per cent, of it had gone for sugar. 7 per cent, for tea 
at perhaps 60 cents per pound. 10 per cent, for butter at > 
45 cents. 5 per cent, for coffee, possibly ' " Java and Mocha 
mixed." 4 per cent, for eggs, with eggs at 34 cents: with only 
7 per cent, of meat, and 9 p»er cent, of flour, perhaps " Pills- 
bury" or "pastry." and the remaining 40 per cent, for a 
miscellaneous collection of fancy groceries or mere luxi: 
such as you will find on this list. Was the case improved 
when, instead of five, you wrote fifteen thousand dollars, and 
instead of ••private account." you wrote "account of the 

- -vn of Hartford." and instead of "person claiming to be 
necessitous" you wrote "poor person in want of the v 
necessaries of lifer " 

7 _ T ,, Did the selectmen know what was being bought on their 

^g^™*" orders ? Probably not. They seemed as much surprised as 

rat the outcome of the analysis, and at once agreed with 

qs that if orders _iven. the choice of the recipients 

should be limited to eight or ten of the more obvious ne 

- ries :»f life, the names of which should be printed in blank 
upon the back of the order and be filled in. in every c 

by the gro 

Bu- .Tethods. 

>": :: ::- These orders were taken from a book with a stub, but no 

entry was made upon the stub, and the name of the first 

No true agna- selectman was printed, not even stamped. It seemed to us 
that there should be a change in both particulars. This 
suggestion met the approval of the selectmen. Observing 

:_ :-i that in many sases :hildren were sent for the ore 

: :omniended a discontinuance of this as tending to school 
them in pauperism. TL imendation was also fol- 

lowed : whether [ ersiste 1 in or not we do not know. Per- 

_-ience in it might require the opening of the office on 
tain days at an earlier or later hour than is now found 
convenient, which might prove to be of public convenien 

The rule of the office requires that the amount and value 
of all articles drawn on orders shall be endorsed thereon. 

A good rale This rule has not been enforced. The greater part of the 

iizzlt. -ers are not endorse i. This seemed to us dangerous. 

A n unprincipled dealer may. indeed, give money or liquor 

upon an order, and endorse sugar or butter, but there is at 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXI 

least chance for legal redress in that case, while none exists 
when there is no endorsement. The question here occurs 
most naturally, 

Have orders been misused ? 

There has been evidence of late sufficient to convince a 
court of justice that the proceeds of certain coal orders have 
been used in payment of debts. In another instance five Orders mis- 
dollars per month is reported to have been given for rent 
when the landlord received nothing. We are also informed 
by persons who are brought in contact personally with 
many beneficiaries of the town that these speak with per- 
fect openness of the conversion of town orders into cash, 
rent, etc., apparently feeling that there is nothing wrong or 
unusual about it. When warned of the danger of loss of 
further orders in consequence they have in some instances 
replied that the First Selectman was aware of their proceed- 
ings, and did not object. This may well be from misunder- 
standing, possibly from untruthfulness on their part. More a more seri- 
serious, because more in the nature of direct evidence, is the me nt. 
statement from a landlord that a tenant kept her tenement 
during a summer's absence of two or three months, not long 
ago, by arranging to have her orders given to a neighbor, 
who got cash for them and paid this over for rent. Where 
she passed the summer, whether in the mountains or at the 
seaside, was not stated ! In this case it was alleged that the 
First Selectman was knowing to the arrangement. This 
does not follow of necessity. 

Under the present system it is quite easy to convert Orders into 
orders into cash, provided the person on whom they are possibie? W 
drawn show a sufficiently accommodating disposition. His 
office is the clearing-house, that is all. That this is done often 
we do not assert. That it may have been done very often 
indeed there is nothing in the present system to prevent. 
On which account, and for other reasons which seemed to recommenda- 
us convincing, we recommended the entire abolition of the SSfn^ 150 " 
order system. The hard-working, self-denying taxpayer, orders. 
and such are the majority, has a right to be sure that his 
grants of aid for necessaries of life shall not be treated as 
negotiable paper, the proceeds of which may be converted 
to any use which selfishness, or luxury, or idleness, or even 
crime may suggest. And careful inquiry convinces us that Let the town 
there is nothing impracticable in the town's giving to its f^ies? 



XX11 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



Union for 
Home Work 
does it. 



poor the articles they require. The head of the Union for 
Home. Work handles five thousand packages annually, 
weighing each with care, and of all keeping a careful ac- 
count. This is done without clerical help, and without sen- 
sible interruption of her more serious duties. In her case of 
shelves, 6x2x5, she can stow away 1,859 parcels, filled, 
marked, and ready for use. Her whole business, which in- 
cludes the cutting and dealing out of hundreds of yards of 
cloth, is transacted in a room about 16 x 19, and there is no 
sign of crowding or inconvenience. 

We are aware that this would by no means put an end to 
fraud. But it would narrow its limits. 

Before leaving this subject it should be stated that there 
is no evidence of political preference in the choice of the 
grocers and others on whom orders are given. In fact, with 
a Board of Selectmen of one party it appears from fhe 
statement printed elsewhere t that grocers who belong to 
the other have received rather more than half of the busi- 
ness. This statement, furnished by the selectmen's office, 
also covers another matter with which we interested our- 
selves, but upon which our recommendation that grocery 
orders be entirely abolished makes it needless that we 
should insist. 

We did not understand the selectmen to favor our recom- 
mendation to abolish the system of grocery orders. 

We now approach the second branch of outdoor poor 
relief : 

II. 



Poor 

persons 
again. 



CARE OF THE SICK. 

Section 3297 of the Statutes reads: "Every town shall 
provide medical treatment by one or more good, competent 
physicians, for all persons liable to be supported by such 
town, when such persons are in need thereof." We have 
followed here the same line of inquiry as in the previous 
subject. 

1. Have the proper persons been aided f 

" Persons liable to be aided," says the statute. And this 
seems to relegate us to the law first quoted and its interpre- 
tation. The town is liable to support poor persons, and by 
poor persons is meant persons in want of the necessaries of 
life. None, then, appear to be entitled to medical aid save 



t Table xx. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XX111 

these. Ill 1881, the two town physicians reported 4,370 visits 
made and 7459 office calls — a total of 11,827 — representing, 
as we>have seen (p. x), an increase of 50 per cent, in two 
years. Under a single doctor, in 1885, there is a consider- 
able falling off, though the number is still large — 2. 500 Their number, 
visits and 5,000 office calls — total 7,500. And there is a 
further slight reduction until 1887. Since then there has 
been no report until this year, and then only for one-half 
the town — 833 visits and 786 office calls — a total of 1,019. 
This shows a still further reduction. The numbers are no 
longer disquieting, but an inspection of the single list, 
which with commendable accuracy is given, leads to serious 
reflections. 

No. 1. Received three private visits from a physician of 
her choice. As soon as it was learned that this physician Particular 
was a town doctor the brother appeared with a ticket from pa 
the selectmen and the paying visits ceased. The party has 
$100 in savings bank. 

No. 2. A widow has one or two daughters and an equal 
number of sons, all of whom have work and dress well. 
Received medicine and medical attendance. 

No. 3. An able-bodied man. Alcoholism. 

No. 4. Had and paid for medicine and care from 
another physician: came finally for the town doctor. Has 
$200 or $300 life insurance. 

No. 5. Received sixty-two visits. Mother has 8350 life 
insurance, lately increased to $550: costs thirty-five cents 
per week. Her husband draws a pension and she has three 
sons who have work. 

No. 6. Husband earns $20 to $22 per week; only three in 
the family. Medical order. 

No. 7. A man — steady work, skilled mechanic; received 
three visits, then goes to hospital on town. 

No. 8. Has a good trade; keeps a woman; has $300 life 
insurance. 

No. 9. A child of eleven years: life insured by mother 
for 8100. 

And there are sixteen more. Of the twenty-five, eleven 
have a total of $2,327 life insurance in one single com- Life insur- 
pany; one has a policy in suspense and thirteen have ance,i 
been examined and refused. We make particular mention 
of life insurance in the above cases merely to throw light 
upon the financial status of these beneficiaries of the town. 



Xxiv REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

In itself the insurance of their lives was only to be com- 
mended. But have we a right to require our poorer tax- 
payers to help pay premiums on others' lives which they 
would gladly carry on their own if they could afford it ? 
We shall meet this same question elsewhere. Xow these 
twenty-five represent about one-quarter of the whole list 
Twenty-five submitted to our inspection. Twenty-five per cent, would 
?o r a en their le P roDaD ly be not far from the actual proportion of persons 
doctor. now receiving medical aid who are perfectly able to pay for 

it themselves and ought to be compelled to do so. We fear 
it has not often occurred to the benevolently disposed that 
Pauperiza- pauperization can be as effectually disseminated in this as 
tion - in any other way. Since the town doctors are paid their 

salary in any event, it seems to have come to be felt that 
there is a real gain to the town, or at least no loss, in allow- 
ing them to do as much as they will for anybody who may 
require their services. Orders have indeed been given, but 
it has been understood by the physicians that an order once 
given entitled the bearer to treatment for all time to come. 
"Once a pauper always a pauper" has been to too great 
extent the unavowed but real watchword of the system 
Recommend- both here and elsewhere. We have recommended that 
Order for each nerea fter, save in cases of exigency, medical visits be made 
sickness. only on a direct order from the first selectman; that this 
order be renewed for each separate illness; and that these 
orders be drawn from a book with a stub, on which latter a 
Record. record shall be preserved of the whole transaction. With- 

out this last, facts of great value in determining pauper 
investigation, settlement will be lost. Further, we think that a careful 
examination into the financial condition of the family 
should immediately follow, when it has not preceded, the 
grant of an order for medical aid; and such aid should at 
once be withdrawn when it is found not to have been 
justified by the actual poverty of the party. 
Provident dis- Before leaving this division of our subject, we wish to 
commend very earnestly a movement, begun within the 
past seventeen years, the design of which is to enable fami- 
lies of moderate means to pass through this trying ordeal 
of sickness without financial embarassment on the one side 
and without appealing for public aid on the other. We 
have before us the "Sixteenth Annual Report of the Man- 
chester and Salford Provident Dispensaries Branch of the 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXV 

District Provident Society. " This society numbers 23,790 
members — artizans and others approved by the Committee. 
Everv member pays one penny (two cents) per week. All 
children under fourteen in any family are lumped at two- 
pence per week. There is also an initiation fee of sixpence 
for the individual, or one shilling (25 cents) for a family. 
There are nine dispensaries, and one or more physicians 
attached to each. Members receive a card, on admission, 
and by sending this, or carrying it to the dispensary, pre- 
scriptions, signed by the dispensary doctor, are filled on 
the nominal payment of one penny. By sending the card 
to the doctor s office by nine o'clock in the morning, a visit 
free of charge is made within the day. For urgency visits 
the doctor may make a charge of one shilling. Female 
members are attended at confinement for 15 shillings. 
There is a dentist attached to the dispensary staff. AVhere 
the medical staff consists of more than one doctor, the 
member has his choice; but doctors cannot be changed dur- 
ing an illness. Eight of the nine branches were self-sup- 
porting last year, and, after paying medical fees and assess- 
ments for the general administration, there was a surplus 
of 8532. These facts have come to us through the kindness 
of Mr. George Rooke, of Manchester, England, one of the 
Poor-Law guardians and a magistrate of that city, to whom 
his kinsman, Mr. John Mark, mayor of Manchester, cour- 
teously referred our letter of inquiry. His letters contain 
other matters of interest, and we have given them entire in 
the Appendix.* It will be seen there that the medical 
charities of the city now restrict the granting of free medi- 
cal attendance and medicine to out-patients whose weekly 
earnings are below the following : 

Single man or woman, . . . S3. 00 

Married couple, 4.50 

For each child, 37| 

With changes needed to conform this scale to our values, 
we should welcome the adoption of some such regulation 
here. The results attained there might be expected here. 
In 1875, 42.32 per cent, of the applicants for free medical 
help were found to be able to take care of themselves, and 
were referred to the Provident Dispensaries. In 1890, the 



Pp. 69-72. 



z": 



F.i? :?.: 0? izi ::>:•:>: 



In America percenta^ e was In fact, since corresponding with Mr. 

Rooke. we have learned with very special satisfaction that 
we already have here in Hartford a - :-ting of 

members, and named suggestively the Manchester Unity, 
which has brought to American soil this excellent home in- 
stitution of theirs. And it has been followed by a second, 
and now finally by an association of Americans. Each 
member pays ents per year to the society's druggist and 
01. S to its <3 Medici _ en only on their own 

do - and a new prescription must be given 

each time. The fees just named do not entitle the fanr 
of members to the privileges of their heads 



7_- li- 



E 






T n Doctors. 

"Every U wn shall provide one or more good and com- 
etent physician-. A physician still living and in r - 
health was once the sole town doctor here on a salsa 
075.-*- and he says he was glad of the place. There are now 
three — two for the city and one for the almshouse. In ad- 
dition, the city has three chosen by the police commission- 
are paid fees, the total of which amounted 

- Last r. The two town phy~ receive - 

each: the almshouse physician $480. The total for the * 
and city, which are contennin as, is $1, Philadelphia, 

which for ten years has abolished all outdoor relief* but 
this, has twenty-four physicians for her 1,046,964 inhabi- 
tants — one : i —and they re - -ach per an- 
num. Paris, with her 2,2 . 45 inhabitants, has 180 do 
— one 31. They receive on an avera^ - eing 
paid fees on a fixed scale both as to amount per visit and to 
number of visits allowed to each pauper. Berlin, with her 
1,315,287 inhabitants has 54 doctors — one to - and then- 
salaries range from - to $450 a year. Whiteehapel, with 
ri.582 inhabitants in the heart of old London, has three, 
estei Mass., with her 84, " " inhabitants, has one city 
physician. His salary is $1,2 He does all the work cov- 
ered by our six in a city 60 per cent, larger than ours f 
per cent, less pay. And though he has a large private prac- 
tice, being the third in direct line of honored members of the 
same family following this honorable profession, and all 
: t lent in the same community, he is sai to do his work 



+ Sze i:~; z:: :n:7r. Ir ir. :i~l: :r r-lir- :_r :ar- ::' 1-rr 1>= . L.'.i.-ri ' lirlri :".:. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXV11 

well. There was talk last year of giving him an assistant ; 
hut as yet nothing has heen done. It seemed to us, and we Recommends 
so stated to" the selectmen, that one, or at most two physi- most!"" 
cians, would he better than the present number. The town 
could remain districted as it is now, and the almshouse be 
attended to month about. This was the arrangement in . 
1882, and it then gave complete satisfaction. The salary 
account could thus be reduced considerably and the person- 
nel would probably not suffer. ^ 

The present method of appointment seems to us not of Methods of ap- 
the best. Application in person or by friends is expected, pom men 
with the result of repelling some of our best men and invit- 
ing influences which are anything but beneficent. This will 
be more evident when we reach another part of the subject. 
We have suggested to the selectmen that they request the Suggestion. 
Medical Society of Hartford to nominate hereafter to this 
responsible and honorable post, and the suggestion has 
been received with considerable favor. Should it be adopt- 
ed, we venture to express the hope that that Society will not 
allow anything to stand in the way of the discharge of a 
duty of such importance to the good name of its profession 
no less than to the welfare of the community. 

3. "Good and Competent" 

The report which you have a right to demand of us con- a painful sub- 
cerning our conferences with the selectmen would not be :ject ' 
complete without the following, relative to the most painful 
of the duties which we have had to perform. The report 
reached us that one of the town physicians, recently 
appointed by the selectmen, was not " good and competent," 
as the law requires. There seemed no way of evading the 
responsibility of an enquiry, and it was made. It appeared Dr. J. J. s. 
to us, on the evidence, that Dr. J. J. S. Doherty had been Doher ^- 
guilty of dishonorable and dishonest conduct while Regis- 
trar of Vital Statistics in New Haven in 1885, whereby 
that city suffered to the extent of $3,000 or more; that he 
had thereafter been recommended by prominent citizens of 
Connecticut, including one member of Congress and two ex- 
governors of the State, to the Interior Department and by it 
appointed a physician to the Indians; that he had been 
discharged from this post, as the then commissioner of 
Indian affairs explicitly averred, not because of his record 



ttt ■■;.: BEPOBT OF THE OOHMOTCB. 

■.::. 1"t-" E; ■'-:."■■■'.-:."■.■.— i"e i::.-"-.'. _ '.:- '.".;-: _r '..:- \ ': — 
satisfactorily. That he returned to Connecticut, and being 
;-""■ ■;"."_"t'. : """."."/-"-:::-"_ 7 :ir fr.r::z.rL : z-\~.-. - . _: -. . 
presented additional and unreasonable charges for ser- 
vices which seemed to come within the terms of his contract 
with the town: finally,, that he was not a skilful pis - 
tioner. We did not, of course, assume to decide these mat- 
ters absolutely; but the evidence was clear and explicit 
enough, we thought, to require us to lay it before the select- 
men. This we did at a special conference held on the 11th 

OraraeffimnL of April, at the same time stating that " in our judgment 
Dr. Doherty is not a fit person to care for the town poor of 
Hartford.^ and that the evidence was presented and the 
statement made by us "in the hope and expectation that 
the Board of Selectmen will obtain his immediate resigna- 
tion."" What action, if any, has been taken by the Selectmen 
we are not officially apprised. The evidence in the 
will be found in the Appendix.* 

Amffitfflttsr ©as?.. A very different case, but requiring not: 5 it set med 

to us. was that of another town physician. Dr. J. J. Mor- 
lissey. Nothing was alleged against Dr. Morrii— skill, 

or his general respectability, but charges of improper use 
of his credit at places where medical supplies are sold vs 
brought to us: and again we seemed to have no alterna- 
tive but to report the facts as they appeared to i> 
therefore laid before the selectmen the result of a careful 
.lamination of bills found in their files, from which it ap- 
peared that from Octob to Harch but 
chiefly during the years 188 S. and §. this physician had 
: -v. :'... «- ' Ln ?,'! -\ t.'l : ~ " :_- ?,'. ::.-:: ■.::.-. t:.> :,: ; *- 
ances, supplies, and books, upon the account of the town — 
thereafter using this property, so far as was necessary, for 
his work as town physician, but treating it and considering 
it as his own. It appeared that there had been no attempt 
to conceal the facts. The articles had appeared under their 
proper names, and each bill had been approved by the 
requisite three selectmen. Surprise was expressed by the 

*:'.:::'_.:•■» t : : ~~ "_:. : - '_'. : : : e : in: ?.^: - i. .v i brri r. 7 ri. :-.,.- i :-.".>: 
at the proportions of the purchases in other directions. But, 

: : : : _ -. -?"'-': ~ _ - ~ .: - : - t . t : * m . "-"_". . e ~ " jjh - . : 1 t - - ' : : t re *i- : n- 



REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. XXIX 

sibility, admitting that he had authorized Dr. Morrissey to 
purchase instruments to whatever extent he should find it instruments 
necessary for a proper and economical discharge of his du- pei 
ties. We thought and still think that the whole transac- 
tion was unprecedented ; that the physician should have 
provided his own appliances as much as a builder his tools ; 
that in any event the number and amount of them was ex- 
cessive and unusual, and that the purchase of the books 
was highly improper, to say the very least. We contented 
ourselves, however, with submitting the evidence, and only 
expressed an opinion when the same was formally request. Our opinion 
ed of us by a unanimous vote of the selectmen. It is as ieques e * 
follows : 

Hartford, April 22, A. D. 1891. 
To the Selectmen of Hartford : 

Gentlemen, — I ain desired by the Committee on Outdoor Alms to Our opinion, 
transmit the following : 

In accordance with your request we desire to say that the opinion of 
this committee is that the selectmen were improperly compliant in agreeing 
to Dr. Morrissey's suggestion to purchase instruments, and seriously negli- 
gent in their failure to note the extreme and unjustifiable extent to which 
he was using the liberty given him. 

"We think that Dr. Morrissey's conduct in purchasing books at the ex- 
pense of the town was wrong and without warrant. And we think that he 
should be required to pay for all books ordered by him on the town account, 
and to restore to the town at once the instruments ordered by him on the 
town account, or their full cost value, save in so far as they may have been 
worn out in the exclusive service of the town. 

Yours very truly, 

Jno. J. McCook, Chairman. 

While using the word "Selectmen" in the above com- 
munication, as in etiquette bound to do, it is only proper to 
add that we have no evidence that any but the first se-The tirst Se- 
lectman had direct knowledge of, or responsibility for, these sum?s an re- S ~ 
transactions. sponsibmty. 

A summary of the bills, together with an abstract of the 
purchases to which allusion has been made, will be found 
in the Appendix.* We are not officially informed what ac- 
tion, if any, has been taken in the premises. 

These incidents emphasize, we venture to think, the 
recommendation made above, that some different method 
should be followed in the election of town physicians. If 
there be one place above another where the highest guaran- 



Appendix C, p. 91. 



XXX 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



ties of character and professional skill should be required, 
Best doctors surely it is here where the question is of the tender care of 
needed by the the un f ortunate , and the speedy restoration to physical 

soundness of those whose chief stock in trade is apt to be 

their bodily strength. 

III. 



Colossal 
growth. 



No corres- 
ponding re- 
duction else 
where. 



RENT. 

We desire to call particular attention to the rapid 
growth in the rent account. There is no separate entry for 
this item until 1882, in the last full year of First Selectman 
Brown's administration. Before this there had been entries 
under the head of "Other Expenses," or "Incidental Ex- 
penses," which we conjecture may have covered this. With 
1882, rent appears for the first time formally in the list, 
with the relatively modest sum of 83,710. In 1800, this has 
swollen to the enormous proportions of $13,716 — a gain of 
268.8 per cent, against a population gain of 16.05, i. e., 16.7 
times as rapid growth in the one as in the other. Had 
there been corresponding retrenchment in other lines of re- 
lief this might be understood. Had "provisions" fallen off, 
for example, we might imagine that here was a case of sub- 
stitution of one necessary supply for another, and allow it 
to pass. For we do not doubt the legality or the propriety 
of including shelter among the necessaries of existence. 
But in the absence of such reduction elsewhere, but rather 
heavy gains there too, we cannot help believing that an im- 
mediate return to the older methods in this matter is both 
practicable and desirable. And we understand the first 
selectman to be in complete accord with us here. We 
Recommbnda- recommend that payments for rent should be reduced in all 
TI0N * cases, and should cease in all save exceptional cases. And 

the only justifiable exceptions seem to us to be cases where 
families of young children can be kept together and brought 
up under good domestic influences by a moderate grant of 
aid on this account. And we refer again, with renewed 
emphasis, to the vote* of this town passed in 1880, ordering 
an immediate reduction in the monthly payments for rent, 
and a speedy discontinuance of this form of alms, and call 
attention to the fact that it is since the passage of that vote 
that the enormous gain above noted has taken place. 



* Appendix, p. 51, and see Table ix. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXXI 

IV. 

BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 

IipIS'.'O. two hundred and twenty-five persons received 
what is technically called pauper burial — about one in five 
of the total number of burials in this town. The average 
for the past ten years is 209.9. The cost of this item in 186.6 per cent. 
1874 was $906: in 1890 $2,591 —an increase of 186. 6 per cent. 
The population meanwhile has increased 34.25 per cent. 
There are other items in the outdoor expenditures which 
show a more rapid rate of increase — as rent. But this is 
sufficiently large to command our attention for a few 
moments. Orders for burials are given in various amounts 
according to the age of the deceased. They rarely exceed 
813. They have heretofore been given as a matter of Orders easily 
course to all who die at public institutions, and without 
serious question or investigation to all others who ask for 
them, either in person or through their friends, or even 
through the undertaker, though recently an attempt has 
been made to restrict the grant to personal applicants. The 
inevitable result of this would be to lead to numerous need- 
less applications. The parties themselves would easily 
yield to the suggestion to lighten their expenses in this 
manner; and in many instances, doubtless, would be quite 
unaware that they were becoming thereby, in the eyes of 
the law, paupers. The amount received was simply a 
credit upon the bill of the undertaker. Indeed, to the latter 
and not to the supposed poor person the order was 
addressed. Several undertakers were consulted and almost 
without exception they spoke with apparent frankness, and 
by an exhibition of their books, in more than one instance, 
confirmed our impressions. We have before us fourteen Fourteen 
itemized bills of " pauper " funerals. In just one of them f JneraS— 
did the grant of the town, 813, pay the whole expense. l n tnecost - 
the other thirteen the coffins alone exceeded the grant by 
amounts ranging from 84 to 832. Here is an " octagon end, 
rosewood-finish casket and box''; here is a "raised top, 
rosewood-finish casket, plate and box"; here is a ''flat-top, 
rosewood-finish casket, plate and box/' etc., etc. In five 
there is a charge for embalming. The bills range from 
829.50 to 865. The average, counting in the one real pauper 
funeral, was 845.65. These charges do not include the full 
number of carriages — probably about twelve on the 



XXX11 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



Compared 
with soldier 
burials. 



The con- 
clusion. 



Hartford's 
pre-emi- 
nence. 

6 communi- 
ties. 



Philadelphia. 

24 Italian 
cities. 



-nor such expenses as flowers, entertainment. 
religious services and the like, a portion of which are 
defrayed usually by friends. If these were added it is 
probable that the average would be raised to about $90. 
This is perhaps not extravagant, as funerals go. But it is 
two and five-sevenths times as much as the State of 
Connecticut allows for the burial of her soldiers who die 
without estate, and it is a great deal more than should be 
spent by persons who are actually " poor " within the terms 
of the statute. Conversely, the fact that these people are 
able to spend such amounts in this way ^hows that they are 
quite outside the provision of the poor law. 

The proportion above given, one 813 funeral to thirteen 
others, suggested the probable proportion of genuine cas 3. 
This was reduced nearly to a mathematical demonstration. 
however, when it was ascertained that the wholesale estab- 
lishment which furnishes the trade here with all. or nearly 
all, their cheap coffins — such as could be used in a genuine 
town-order funeral — sold last year just forty-five large and 
twenty-one small ones — total >ixty-six. S<»me of these 
must have gone to non-pauper customers. But assuming 
every one of them to have been used for a " town " funeral 
and we have a residuum of 159 cases — 70.67 per cent. — in 
which the taxpayer of this community has been called 
upon to contribute largely to superfluit: 

Hartford has an eminence in this matter, as in nearly 
everything, which will appear from an inspection of Table 
viii. Six communities in Germany. England, and the United 
States, with a total population of 1,64 ,2 . spend 14,366 upon 
the burial of their pauper dead, i. e. with 31 times as many 
inhabitants, their expense is l.T times as large. We are 
therefore eighteen times as lavish as they. Among these 
communities is Philadelphia. With her 1,046,964 she spends 
just $243, against our $2,591. Twenty-four Italian cities 
with an aggregate of 2,392,744, spend $49,358 — 45 times as 
many people and 15.4 times as large expenditure. • We are all 
but three times as lavish as they. Leave out Naples, which 
by herself spends three-fourths their whole amount, and we 
excel them by six times. 4 But the thing: is an admitted 



- The guess of a liveryman. 
+ For pauper funerals in Paris, see letter of M. 
pubiiqite de Paris. Appendix. ; 



E. Pevron. Directeur dt 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXX111 

abuse. Nobody pretends to defend it; and there seems but Remedy. 

one effectual remedy — do as is done in Manchester and 
Whitechapef, England, in Worcester and Philadelphia here, 
let the^'town do everything, or nothing, in the burial of the 
dead: and absolutely cease all grants in aid. Conversely, let 
it treat expenditures like the greater part of those just cited 
as prima facie evidence that the party is not entitled to 
further aid. if already a beneficiary, or to first aid if not a 
beneficiary. The effect of such action might work some 
apparent hardship at first, but when it came to be under- 
stood that the rule was inflexible, people would adapt them- 
selves to it by consulting economy in their funeral expendi- 
tures, or by freeing the town from the burden of their sup- 
port. How beneficial the latter might be we all know; how 
desirable the former is can be concluded from the following: An iiiustra- 
Your committee was represented in the first selectman's tlon * 
office recently when a woman in neat mourning applied for 
help. She was a widow with eight children, the youngest 5, 
the eldest 21 years old. Her husband had just died at the 
hospital. Inquiry elicited the fact that he had left $100 life 
insurance. 

•'What has become of that $100?" the first selectman, 
as in duty bound, inquired. 

"Sixty-seven dollars to the undertaker; fourteen dollars 
and a half for religious services; nine dollars for carriages," 
was the answer. 

And that left how much of her little fortune for herself 
and her eight children? Nine dollars and a half! So she 
fell back upon the community. Would she have sacrificed 
her duty toward the living to sentiment for the dead had she 
known there was no town treasury to fall back upon? We 
think not. f 

We have submitted our conclusion, as above expressed, Recommend- 
to the selectmen, and understand them to approve of it. ation. 

Y. 

HOSPITALS. 

This is technically beyond the field of outdoor alms. 
But home medical attendance is not ; and the ease and the 
frequency with which the town poor pass from one to the 

tit should, perhaps, be added that the first selectman deferred her case; and de- 
ferred it again and again — three separate times, as the same member of the commit- 
tee had opportunity to observe, happening to be in the office each time when the 
woman returned. It was still deferred, at last accounts. 



XXXiv REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

other and back again will explain our devotion of a few 
The city bos- minutes to this subject. Since its foundation in I860, the 
pitaL city hospital has treated 14,796 patients. Of these 2,203 

entered before 1872. leaving 12,593 for the nineteen years 
between 1872 and 1891. Of these 12,593, 6,441 have been 
town patients — 51.15 per cent. The total paid for the care 
of these 6,441 patients has been $139,015.93 — an average of 
$21.58 per case. Since the charge made to the town is - 
per week, this would mean an average of seven and one- 
sixth weeks annually for 339 persons. The charge to the 
town, considering the services rendered, is exceedingly 
moderate. Each patient costs the hospital $6.21 per week. 
It has. therefore, made a reduction of more than 50 per 
cent, to the town — which means that citizens of Hartford 
have made, through the city hospital alone, a further con- 
tribution to the burden of caring for our poor of $148,709.54 
in the past nineteen years, or - : per year. 

There is no question here of misappropriation of funds. 
The money has gone into the alleviation of pain and the 
restoration of impaired physical powers. But it i> a fair 
question whether the number of town patients has not been 
excessive, and whether the expense might not have been 
lightened to the town. 
Increase. As to the first : In 1872, there were 152 town patients : 

in 1890, 508 — a gain of all but 200 per cent. <1 The 

population, meanwhile, has increased less than 38 per cent. 
(3;. 55). That is to say, the town patients have increased 
more than five times as fast a- the population (5.2). Nor 
is the beginning of this period at a time when the hospital 
was new and its uses as yet undiscovered. The institution 
had been in operation twelve years. 

In the matter of expense the contrast i^ still more strik- 
ing. In 1872, the town- paid $2, 31 — 
a gain of 248.5 per cent., as against the population iner< 
of 37.55 per cent., or nearly seven times as fast (6.62). Has 
there been seven times as much serious illness in Hartford 
this past year as there was eighteen years ago ? The death 
rate + says no. This has increased, apparently, from 18.5 



* The figures in ail these eases are from the hospital books. In Table IX. the 
careful study of which is commended, the figures are from the reports of the first 
selectman, so far as they cover the ground. 

+ Furnished us by Professor C. A. Lindsley. M.D.. Secretary of the State Board 
of Health. For this and for hospital statistics see Tables XI and XIX. Dr. Lindslev 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXXV 

per thousand in 1872 to 21.5 in 1S90— i. e. L6.2 per rent., or 
less than one-fifteenth (15.3) that of the increase of town 
patients in the hospital. The figures,, then, seem to show conclusions, 
conclusively a rapidly accelerating disposition to use the 
hospital at the public charge; and inasmuch as the increase 
in cost has been 40 per cent, more rapid than the increase in 
cases — ? to 5 — the other conclusion is inevitable, — that there 
has been a growing disposition to keep the patients there 
instead of treating them at home. The probability of the 
correctness of this conclusion is heightened by the fact that 
there has been a very large falling off in the cases treated 
by the town doctors*— 11,827 in 1881 to 3,238f in 1890, i. e. 
nearly three-quarters (72.62 per cent.), while their number 
and aggregate salary have considerably increased. 

Public hospitals are of great utility, and we mark with Dangers. 
unmitigated satisfaction the growth of our own institution 
here. They are, however, not exempt from the fate of all 
sublunary things, and especially of all charities, — capacity 
for abuse. We have only just begun to see this. It has 
been seen for some time in other communities. In England in England: 
it has commanded the attention of Parliament. Before the nient. epar 
committee of that body it has appeared in evidence that 
in the outdoor department \ of St. Bartholomew's 150,000 
patients were treated annually ; that at the London Gene- 
ral Hospital patients were so numerous that they were 
rushed through at the rate of sixty an hour per doctor ; 
while at Guy's Hospital the time usually given to each 
patient was two minutes. § Our out department is thus far our own. 
in its infancy. It is limited to eye, ear, and throat cases, 
and has not been long in operation. Still, it is largely 
used, and is sure to grow with greater rapidity than the 
in department, rapid as has been its increase. Moreover, if 
one may judge by the dress and general appearance of the 
patients, a great many of them do not belong to the legally 
poor. Since the town does not paj r for patients treated in 



■explains tbe greater uniformity of the rate for New Haven, by the fact that they were 
at first more careful in keeping the records there. The slight difference in favor 
of New Haven for the past ten years may be clue to her inclusion of a larger suburban 
population than we. This is our suggestion. 

* See Table IX. 

t The report from one-half the town is 1,619. 

% For persons who come to the hospital at specified hours to be treated, but who 
do not live there. 

§ Report of Manchester and SalforJ Provident Dispensaries for 1890. p. 7. 



xxxvi eeport :j the ' :::::zize. 

this way. we have only the concern of citizens in the mat- 
ter. But. as citizens who have studied with care the wh 
problem, we raise the question whether the out depart- 
ion nient should n developed with great caution : and 

whether, at ~ reg ard to the character of the patients, and 
erhaps to the fair protection of members of the medical 
profession also, a fee, how - 11, shou I lired 

of most of those who present then is - treatment. 

investigation. And at least the financial condition of the regular frerp 

re of these clinics should be carefully I into with a 

view to reducing the fee. or increasing it. or refu>m.L: treat- 
ment altogether, as the facts may g ggest.' 

In the January number of the "Journal," one of our 

-t-known American medical publications, is reprinted. 

from the Contemporary . . a paper by the eminent 

SirMorreii specialist. Sir Morrell Mackenzie, on 77 
^i exe ^ anes JSospitals. We reprint its concluding paragraphs in the 
appendix.* and add a letter which the author kindly wi 
us in reply to qu< from us. H • - - :he evil and in 

his characteristic manner attacks it. We have a itly 

had an opportunity to ascertain the vi of our 

Dr. waiu- m Laent surge- - 3to1 _■ -. from the surgi- 

ragl: "' cal standpoint, of rushing all cas - I accident at i 

the hospital. It is certainly a question whether much fasl 
and furthe along the lines which we. and the 

The tendency, civilized world in general, have been followi] _ may 

not end in pauperizing our people and making pauper- 
our doc 

Life insurance. We have evidence that a considerable number of town 
patients in the hospital have life insurance. Two ins 
from last year are given. N mpany 

-i^ned the whole of the claim to the undertaker-. The 
wi is -aid to have sold hei and from t' 

indulged in a drunken orgy. No. .. |225. V wi 
who is of a thrifty turn, liquidates the undertakers bill of 
- ". and with a portion of the balance pays in advance for 
six month- risks on her own and her mother's life, which 
she raises from § %b tc |500. She neglected to refund to the 
: ; wn what it paid for her husband's hospital treatment, but. 

* Pa_ 

A. M. Wainwright. M.D.: 1 :unty 

and State Medi L 8 ies, Mav and June. A.L> 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXXV11 

on the other hand, had the unusual grace not to draw a 
burial order, which it was assumed she would ask for and 
conceded that she would get.* No. l had a burial order, of 
course, so that the undertaker was able to pay his lawyer 
and apply something- to an old account, We might add, 
though it is four or five years ago. a No. '-k where it was 
ascertained that a town patient had insurance of $4,000 or 
$5,000. f Hartford is not alone in this matter of thrift on 
the part of some of her " poor." We have credible in form a- Thrift eise- 
tion of a $3,000 or $4,000 policy taken out by a nominal pau- ^ooTpoiicy 
per in a sister city in Connecticut. 

The insured do not always know of the existence of these 
policies, and the beneficiaries under the policies are not 
always such as are legally bound either to support the as- 
sured living or to bury them dead. I But some of them are, 
and from such, we think, the town should collect. 

To dismiss the subject of our use of the city hospital — rbcommend- 
we have recommended to the selectmen that they allow ATIONS< 
patients to enter the institution, save in exigency cases, 
only on the recommendation of the town physician, and 
that tickets £ be dispensed with so that all orders shall bet. Xo more 
from a book with stub. Further, that the town doctors be buTorders. 
directed to inspect the town patients once a month at leasts, inspection. 



* Her husband had no legal settlement here. It was thought we might recover 
from a neighboring town where he was supposed to belong. But his settlement there 
was repudiated, and Hartford was left in the lurch. Fortunately the amount in this 
ease was small. 

+ Our informant was iu position to know the facts. In this instance we think he 
said the towu recovered. 

+ To support the living there is legal obligation backward and forward for two 
generations in the direct line. But whether the obligation extends to the burial of 
the dead might prove to be an interesting legal question. 

* After the first admission, the order for which is taken from a book, it has been 
customary to give the patient, on his reappearing, a ticket of which no record is 
kept. In one instance under our own notice a patient was in the hospital without 
the knowledge of the first selectman or his clerk. A ticket had been given and then 
the incident forgotten. The particular case was of peculiar interest because the patient 
was a chronic case which could be cared for just as well at home. The town doctor 
so thought and discharged him from the hospital. He got a ticket, as described, and 
returned. On findinu- out about the ticket the first selectman discharged him by 
telephone. He presented himself thereupon to the town doctor fortified with a 
letter from two prominent citizens who earnestly asked his reinstatement. The 
doctor declined and learned on inquiry that the man had $400 or $500 in bank. In 
this he may have been misinformed. The man had had $1,000 or $1,200 some years 
before, but it was then protoably gone. He had, however, been a regular visitor at 
the hospital for several years — probably before his money was exhausted. After this 
latest rebut! he appeared at the almshouse and spent the winter there. He should 
have been there long before. Latest : He is back at the hospital ! 



~.r;j 



— n — e recommend a monthly report of the same in 

writing: — to the end that any who are fit may he promptly 
dismissed * to their homes or to the almshouse. And that. 

a fiaMne- after adniissioii, inqoiry be at once instituted to see whether 
the patient have means for the whole or partial payment of 
his support : and that measures he taken to secure. wL 
possible, the reimbursement of the town, for hospital or 
burial charges, out of any funds available for the pur} 

TX 

B -PITJLL FOB THE IXSJkXR. 

La ng t isane and imbecile per- 

ils and paying for then - 
:-~".l ~- - i~.~. '....-:... -. "r - T-.-r :~ .:r>r : . .-.- .--:_ -" .. 
per cent, in patients, ar. p<er cent, in cost. Mean- 

while the population has increased t*J)»3 per cent. So our 
insanity and imbecility have multiplied nearly four time- - 
fast as population, and tL four times. Including^ 

the cost of insane inmates of the almshouse the expe 
has increased five times as fast as population, and the 
cess of the expense-rate over that of insane population 
would seem to show : - - re per cent, more of cases re- 

quiring long treatment — perhaps chronic. Beyond this 
the figures relating to cost need no further attention. Tl 
r ason. from the standpoint of public policy no 
than from that of pure benerolence. why the insane should 
be properly cared for at what - But the increase in 

our insane population can hardly be considered less than 
r tl in g . In 1^1 m.. sufficiently bad. We then 

- - - -■ ----- ■■'-'-- ' -r"-: " ^ . . - ' 1" ■-- :jir ;:.;.'..:::.i :- ._- : 

- - h ill not take spa iato detailed com- 
p£ Soffi and we think we are well 
within bounds in saying, that the proportion is very 

e following seems to show: 

- 7 I e fitesassgni ®£ tMse 5^, ©£ MrHnrse-. nsti to ra&wfi wgwrn fftos ii«i«?cu - ' — 
motMcpar Bract pcaiise for titeni. — Ifomtt to tcx v&penE&bBRsj mlnane it &kmM. $m$*n$v resc_ 
' He ■ inrta fe o»Bjr ff«w ttfeaat- at hG£giB3A&. T»1heiK»- 

hM Be a»Mgii nfiie eoar eff eirntr §m inustne and aniBiai tfLt- Emmae** ■ ; <f -frit- 
atasftfiH^- : .--- rjagc m nmmlreff ffiraam 6 m M$L to W m» fSNH art A.-- . - 

- HSLWpo- year, ffinm £3 -~;p«- tear. Ifta? ffaists Ae> nt~ 

'-'- -•■---:- - _ «£. lajr- 

msHr <8i maLes ami IM fiBmaLi- — 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



XXXI X 



Total Insanity in Six States. 
V. S. Census, A.D. 1880. 



. v-- 

State. 


Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


Population. 


One insane to 

how many 

inhabitants. 


Connecticut, . 
Massachusetts, . 
New York, 

Ohio. .... 
Pennsylvania, . 
Rhode Island, . 


745 
2,25:5 
6,189 
3,454 
2,526 

293 


978 
2.874 
7,866 

3,832 

2,935 

391 


1,723 

5,127 

14,055 

7,286 

5,461 

684 


622.700 
1,783,085 
5,082.871 
3,198,062 
4,282,891 

270,531 


361.4 
347.8 
361.6 

474.2 
791.6 
404.3 


Total 6 States, . 
United States, . 


15,460 
44,391 


18,876 
47,568 


34,336 
91,959 


15,246,140 
50,155,783 


444.03 
545.41 


Hartford in 1890, pauper 
insane alone, 


59 


102 


161 


53,230 


332.5 



By this it will be seen that Connecticut is slightly sur- 
passed by Massachusetts, but surpasses the other four indi- 
vidually by varying percentages, surpasses the average 
of the six by 22. 9 per cent. , and that of the United States by 51 
per cent. : while Hartford, in 1890, in its pauper insane alone, 
far surpasses the percentage of all insane in both State and 
country. 

Again, this strange pre-eminence of State and town ! h 
How account for it ? Where have our insane all come from ? 
Have they been unloaded upon this community by other 
communities less humane ? To some extent this seems to 
be true. We hear of the police finding them wandering 
in the streets at night unable to tell whence they came or 
how they came to be here. They had been dropped from a 
wagon, apparently, or from a railway train. Such have a 
special name in our almshouse, — "shucked men." It is 
hard to believe the truth of statements so disgraceful to our 
common humanity, and we are glad to know that the repre- 
sentatives of this town prefer to charge themselves and us 
with an unmerited burden rather than attempt to pass it on 
by means as nefarious. The insane, then, are here, without 
doubt, returned upon the rolls of the various asylums and 
institutions, appealing to us by their helplessness for protec- 
tion and succor. But though we may have no humane or 



avtf ord an<$ 
Connecti- 
cut again 
pre-emi- 
nent. 



xl 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



A proposed 
remedy. 



Our opinion. 



honorable way of diminishing their numbers, it is a fair 
question whether we may not reduce the cost of their main- 
tenance. The first selectman raises that question more 
than once in recent reports, and answers it by suggesting 
that we care for our own insane in connection with the 
almshouse. This is done in some very well governed and 
humane poor administrations, notably Philadelphia. 

Your committee has had this question under long and 
careful consideration and is, on the whole, adverse to any 
such experiment. We have consulted some of the most 
experienced and highly accredited specialists and others, 
both here and elsewhere, and find them generally adverse 
to the care of the insane outside of State asylums or other 
establishments erected for their exclusive use. They dread 
neglect, abuse, unscientific care, niggardliness in expendi- 
ture, and political influence in management. While some 
of their apprehensions seem exaggerated and most of them 
might not be realized here, there is yet enough of proba- 
bility in them to deter us from recommending any such 
experiment at this time. The present cost of supporting 
our insane in the Connecticut Hospital at Middletown is 
but a trifle above the per capita cost in our almshouse,* and 
the trustees have just recommended a further reduction, 
which is sure to be adopted ; and thereafter our insane at 
Middletown will cost us less than those at the almshouse. 
The first selectman thinks, indeed, that many persons who 
now suffer the town to pay for their relatives would pay for 
them themselves rather than endure the odium of having 
them at the almshouse. This may be so ; and certainly it 
is desirable to use every legitimate means to force people, 
who have the ability, to support their demented relatives ; 
but it is our opinion that the gain in this would be more 
than offset by the expense of the plant and its maintenance. 
It is worthy of note in this connection that the Department 
of Charities in Philadelphia, which was supposed to have 
model accommodations for its insane, has just recom- 
mended f the transference of all of them to State asylums. 
The city of Worcester, Mass., justly eminent in most mat- 
ters relating to poor administration, has a new and complete 



* At the latter |3.56 per week ; at the former |2 50 plus clothing. The trustees 
recommend (p. 3, Report of 189D) that $2.50 cover everything hereafter, 
t Report of 1890, p. 5. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xli 

insane-ward attached to its almshouse. But the excellent 
town physician there favors transference to special institu- 
tions.* We observe that the custom of that city is to print 
in the annual report a complete list of all persons entirely 
supported by the community. We think this should be done Recommend- 
here, and so recommend. It might have some restraining AT,ON - 
effect upon persons who are not deterred by self-respect and 
conscience, but might be kept back by pride and shame, 
from shifting to the shoulders of others the load which 
Providence has placed upon their own. and to the bearing of 
which, unaided, the same Providence has made them equal. 

VII. 

ORPHAN ASYLUMS. 

Such information as we possess concerning these will be 
found in Table IX. We are informed by the first selectman Two orphan 
that there are two as}dums for orphans, and only two, with as J iums - 
which his office is in relations — St. James (Roman Catholic) 
and the Hartford. To each of these a lump sum seems to 
have been voted annually, in the nature of a subsidy, until 
1885, when the subsidy was extended to a religious society 
of the town. Thereafter the Hartford Orphan Asylum 
drops out of the list for two years, during the second of 
which another religious society appears for a subsidy. The 
following year, 1888, the Hartford appears again, though 
no longer under the title of Hospitals, but " Outside Alms," 
and receives $1,720. The second religious society has at the 
same time had an addition to its grant, and in 1890 we find 
two asylums, St. James and the Hartford,, and two religious 
societies, all under the title of hospitals. There is a specific 
contract, we find, with the Hartford Asylum at so much 
per child — 17 children, in all, last year. At the St. James, 
the town contributes to the support of 43 children. The 
two religious corporations report 33 and 24 children respect- 
ively, towards the support of whom they use the town's 
subsidy. We are convinced that the money is all used and 
well used for the purposes for which it is contributed. It 
might, however, be a question wh ether the precedent of 



* The first selectman's theory finds some confirmation from the insane statistics 
in that city. With 84,(155 inhabitants the community is required to care for but 121 
insane — 84 at the almshouse, 37 elsewhere ; i. c, one to every 699.6. '1 his is not far 
from normal, though far below the average for Massachusetts. 



Xlii REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

making grants of public money - ligious s ieties be a 
^suggestion, perfectly safe one. And in any event it would seem only 
just that the money contributed by the town should 
spent, as we understand it is not all spent, at home, as in 
this case might be done, by sending all the children I 
one of the two asylums established here under such excel- 
lent management. 

VIII. 

THE ALMSHOUSE. 

The law. The law limiting towns to the use of the almshouse for 

all but temporary aid was quoted above. It will als-:» be re- 
membered that an examination of the cases now a-si>ted 
by the town shows that 24 per cent, of them are such - 
should be aided, if at all. at the almshouse. It tl. 
seemed necessary to ascertain the condition <:»f the alms- 
house and its inmates, with a view to determining whether 
these persons could be properly cared for there, in 

The ituiiding. need. We find the building to be large, well built, steam- 
heated, well furnished: the beds provided with woven-wire 
mattr- . rupulously clean, orderly, well officered, and 

Officials. on the whole well managed. Its officials are sufficiently 
numerous, are experienced, energetic, firm in discipline, 
and yet. so far as we can ascertain, av - roughness and 

Food. cruelty. The meals are neatly served, and the i is suf- 

ficient in quantity and of excellent quality. There are 

insant- and im-iusane and imbecile quartered here. On the - four 

last vis lit of these were found to be confined in the 

prison — four behind bars and four free in the 
One of these cannot be kept clothed: one is violent and 
moody by turns: one had been temporarily frenzied by 
fright, and was to be released at once: one has commitl 
murder and attempted suicide. The four in the 
ridor are all quiet and harmless. With the sing] 
above indicated all are probably incurable. From lac": 
attendants to accompany them none or _ out 

for exercise, summer or winter. This is a serious draw- 
back, and it is the chief one iu their situation. 

Thev were free from filth and their cells from the odor 
of filth. 



5 To meet intimations as to extravagance in our almshouse from one dir 
and of parsimony from the other, we print the bill of fare in the Appendix . «2 
and. for purposes of comparison, that of three other institut: - 

+ February 22. A. D. 1- 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xliii 

The other insane are able to work and their condition, 
albeit not ideal, presents no occasion for shame. The state 
of the imbeciles seemed more pitiable than theirs. And 
there was one boy quartered with them, but not properly 
belonging- to their number, since he is a paralytic, whose 
blue eyes and gentle, helpless look have haunted us ever 
since and whose condition is a powerful argument in favor Ineui . ahk , 
of the long-needed hospital for incurable children, the £ bild ^ e ?~" 
erection of which is now being earnestly advocated. needed. 

We found a gang of men from the house, breaking away 
earth with wedges and carting it to a gulch in the grounds Outdoor 
which they were filling. Several single and double teams 
were employed in this way— all of them the property of 
the town. While the season allowed it these same men 
and teams had been rendering service of considerable 
value on the old town property, grading, trenching, etc. 
We are surprised that no credit is given for this in the 
annual report. The exhibit for the almshouse might be 
made to look from 82,500 to 84,000 better in that way — and 
it would be honest, as well as accurate book-keeping. 

Fourteen men were found working indoors at basket- indoor work, 
making. Their superintendent, who contracts for their 
labor, stated that they worked well and cheerfully. The 
deliberate dawdler is the exception. Other inmates were 
employed, according to opportunity, in various tasks about 
the house. There was, however, an obvious lack of occupa- 
tion for all hands on stormy clays. The outdoor gang must 
then remain idle. The basket-industry itself had only been 
taken up within a short time. 

We have mentioned the prison. The title '"almshouse" 
is over the entrance to the edifice, and it is at least question- 
able whether the establishment is legally anything but anlsitawork- 
almshouse.* Nevertheless we found prisoners there, com- 
mitted by the police court. One was a notorious prostitute, 
in a cell sleeping oft the effects of her latest debauch. 
There were eighty-one of these cases of committal in 1889, 
and thirty-four in 1890. Our first feeling was one of indig- 
nation at the thought of the respectable poor, for so we 
esteemed the large bulk of the inmates to be. compelled to 
associate with such ; and an additional building for the 



*See abstract of town votes bearing on this question, compiled bj- A. L. Shipman, 
Esq., under our direction. Appendix, p. 40. 



zl:- - — :-..z : _■ :- - :"::::. --±. 

workhouse element at once -.'._,.--' 

would it meed to be ? This que- -- : i :- .-.-: 

analysis of the make-up of the pauper element, prop 
•nte&niKEtossv. so-ealledL in the institution. The master : r a 

roll of the inmates with answers to the usual statistical 
rxesTi-jiLS :zz-:^iz^ ~.:-.,:~z_ :.___- _._■.- - - - 

z : '" - - - - " - - - '-' '. - - - ~ ~"'~ - *-">r:r> : ■-. ~ - z : - ; : - -_.:-. 

asked "Hour many are tempera - 2£ 

beeneonmHtted to jail, workhouse r or prison ? ~ - 

to these the master brought in person. " I've brought you 
the list of those that do not drink." he said. Of the IV> men 

there were four: of the eighty women there were ~ 

nine in all out of As for the other question." he 

--- _- there's no use asking them a 

I ■-.."-. " :r rc:^?_Ty 

been in jail or prison some time or othe 

pared to find laziness. The sixty-three men out of 149 able 

to earn their Iron g ^pendent on their neighbors for a 

living, did not greatly startle us. W epared for 

_ 
of 14$ wb can neither read nor write did not surp 
We had presumed we should find the great majc< 
foreign-bom. So the forty-three men and ni jen 

— total sixty-two — natures of XL "' ~ - 

-:_ zz. - — :■:: L * — 

elsewhere, did not astoni-7 us Bat " nearly all in prison 
at one time or another' 7 — that did shock us. It was quite 

But was it true? We carried our roll to the Police 

E ------- : 

police who has been on the force for I 

~£r : - : _„.:- "-:::'---;:: : :7r i:ri - ^ . ; -: :-r — ;-~ : 
twenty-one of the women — ! " per cein — s having 
been often arrested and convicted. This one had been dug 
out of the ice on a back street, in mid-winte: 
ago. seemingly dead — had been thawed out after a day and 
a half of unconscion- ness Was be still ali' 7 

one had been in State Prison : the other was a common 

old cbain-gang, etc etc n two page- - twenty-six 

:_-;__t- ~~ "_.::_ \\ ~\:^ 7 71 7:". n:: -,_——-"- :e: :^n:zel 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xlv 

These were looked up. and twelve of them — 40 per cent. — The remain- 
found iu one single book* covering only ten months of last er ' 
year's convictions in the Police Court, and there were two 
more "b'f doubtful identity. The statement of the master of 
the almshouse looked very probable, then. 

It was subjected to a converse treatment. The records 
of convictions in the police court from March 8, 181)0, to 
March 8, 1891, were carefully analyzed, and a list made of 
all who had been convicted twice or often er, of which 
drunkenness to be one. There were ninety -four of them. List of 94— 
*The names were read over to Mr. Stillman, for twenty man^srecoi- 
years clerk of the board of selectmen. He promptly recog- lection, 
nized forty-nine, and was uncertain about a fiftieth — cer- 
tain, that is, of 52.1 per cent, of the names, merely from 
memory. 

Again, from this list of ninety-four names, another was 
made, limited to those who had been convicted three times 
or more, or who had been committed as common drunkards 
during the year. This list, containing thirty-five names, List of 35. 
was found to include twenty-seven of Mr. Stillman's alms- 
house paupers. And, of the remaining eight, all but three 
were found on examination to be upon the alms-books of 
the- town ; and of these three two were possibly there. 
Thirteen of the thirty-five were found by name in the re- 
cords of convictions for 1882, some of them as often as four 
times ; others would have been found there but for change 
of name; since several were remembered by the police, as 
already remarked, for a score of years back, f 

So, then, the more aggravated of the police cases were The worst po- 
found, almost without exception, to be represented, at the a£o jC pau- 
present moment, in this asylum for the poor ! P ers - 

Let us see what their record is there. They present Their en- 
themselves, or are brought, not infrequently ragged, filthy, iance - 
shoeless, shivering with incipient delirium, at the office of 
the selectmen, receive a card and are transported to the 
almshouse. There they are bathed, clad in a new suit, if 
necessary sent to the Infirmary, carefully nursed out of 
their delirium, fed when convalescent upon whisky and 
milk. A few days' work follow — prolonged into weeks, 
perhaps, if it be mid-winter; only a few of those who can get 



*Book 38, March 8, A. D. 1890 — Jan. 19, 1891. 
t See Table Xil. 



xlvi 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



away staying during the summer. The work, otherwise be- 
yond their impaired forces, is made bearable, it may be. by 
occasional administration of stimulants.* Presently — and 
it is never long delayed — comes the drawing towards the 
old life : there is nothing to restrain them ; and suddenly 

Their return, the bird has flown. Almost before his absence has been well 
noted he is back again. The new suit has been pawned, or 
reduced to rags and tilth by a two or three days' debauch, 
and there follows, bath, a second suit, more whisky and 
milk, a feeble attempt at work, another flight, another de- 
bauch, a third application for ticket at the Halls of Record. 
— and so on. in a vicious circle as unending as the patience 
of the first selectman and the indifference of the Hartford 
taxpayer. We are dealing in no hyperbole. We are de- 
scribing well-known and common-place facts in the life of 

Examples. this institution. Before us is a list of 12 admissions and 
discharges. Here are two of the records :f 

No. 2 — a woman. 

Admitted March 21, 1889 ; discharged March 25, 1880. 



1890. 



April 


11. " 


" 


April 15, 


July 


12, " 


" 


July 16, 


Aug. 


26, 1890 


" 


Aug. 27, 


Sept. 


3, " 


" 


Oct. 4, 


Oct. 


10, " ; 


" 


Oct. 14. 


Oct. 


16, " ; 


" 


Oct. 82, 


" Xov. 


29, ' 


still there 


Jan. 1, 


ISo. 8 — a man. 








Admitted Dec. 


27, 1888 


discharged March 4. 


June 


28, 1889 


" 


July 23, 


- July 


31, " 


" 


Aug, 3, 


Aug. 


21, " 


' ' 


Aug. 22, 



1891. 



4. 1889. 



"-Charged under the title of provisions — a custom which goes back of the present 
first selectman. 

t For the whole list see Table X. The following concerning the less transient 
inmates may not be amiss here. Most of the permanent inmates are believed to have 
their lives insured. Calls upon some of these from the outside world are not always 
dictated by motives of pure benevolence. Nor i- the actual motive always hidden 
from the insured themselves. "I know what you are here for."' an a^ed mother -aid 
to her drunken son. " you want to find out when I am going to die. so that you can 
get that insurance.** And the tender son did not deny the charge ! On election days 
the doors are thrown wide open at an early hour, and all who will depart for the dis- 
charge of that serious duty of the citizen. We are informed by the authorities that 
they return in the evening quite uniformly drunk — a double mystery considering 
their necessary impecuniousness and the fact that saloons are shut on election day ! 
For the law concerning votes of inmates, see App. p. 38. Those committed as to a 
workhouse are, of course, restrained from votin°\ 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xlvii 

No. S. — Continut d. 

Admitted Oct. 10, 1889; discharged Dec. 21, 1889. 

Dec. 26, 1889; " Dec. 27, 1889. 

Jan. 18, 1890; " Mcb. 18, 1890. 

Apr. 10, 1890; " Apr. 21, 1890. 

May 19, 1890; " June 2, 1890. 

June 5, 1890; " June 29, 1890. 

Aug-. 20, 1890; " Sept. 8,1890. 

Sept. 13, 1890; •« Oct. 7, 1890. 

Oct. 16, 1890; " Nov. 10, 1890. 

Nov. 19, 1890; still there Jan. 1, 1891. 

From March 21, 1889, to October 22, 1890 — thirteen 
months — the woman was admitted seven times and as often 
she left. She remained in all, 24 days! From December 27, 
1888 to Nov. 10, 1890 — twenty-two and one-half months — the 
man came and went thirteen times. His total residence 
was 318 days — an average of 24J days. These are perhaps 
extreme cases, though there are only too many which 
approximate them. Nor do we allege that these two, or all 
of the twelve, or all of those who go and come repeatedly, fill 
literally the whole outline of the picture above given. That 
many of them do will be seen by comparing Table X with 
XYII and XVIII, and consulting Table XII. This much 
however, is certainly true. They belong to a large company 
of the grossly intemperate who drift in and out of the doors 
of the institution practically at their own will. At their own 
will, we say ; for it rarely happens, we think, that tickets 
are refused, however often demanded. 

The clothing account of some of the inmates illustrates clothing 
another part of our description as well as the foregoing. accounts - 
Here is a transcript of the account of one, whom we will 
designate as No. 7, at dozen prices. The man is able- 
bodied. 

1888. 
Dec. 4, 1 Coat, ...... $4.00 

Dec. 8, Drawers, .50; undershirt, .50, . . . 1.00 

1889. 

Jan. 21, Drawers, . . . . . . .50 

Jan. 27, Undershirt, .50; socks, .08, . . . .58 

Feb. 3, Drawers, .50; shirt, .50, . . . 1.00 

Mch. 12, Trousers, . . . . . . 2.00 



xlviii 



P.EPORT OF THE COMMI1TEE. 



1889. 

Brought forward, 
Mch. 23, Socks, ..... 

Apr. 1, Shoes, 1 14; socks, .08 

Apr. 20, Trousers, 2.00: shir: 5 

Mar 4, Jacket, .75: ove\ - . . 

May 6, Shoes. 1.14: socks. .08; . 

May 18, Drawers, ..... 

June 8, Undershirt. .... 

July 8, Trousers. ..... 

July 18, Coat, ..... 

July 27, Trousers. 2 socks M undershir: 

shirt. .50. 
r 9, Shirt. .50; undershirt, .5 
.-_ _ 31, Shirt. .50; dr. 5, .50, . 
Oct. 11, Shirt, .50; undershirt. .50; dr. is 

socks, .08, .... 
Oct. 17, Trousers. 2.00: shirt, .50, 
Xov. 6, Shirt, .50; undershirt. .50; overalls 

sock? - . . . . 

Dec. 3, Trousers. ..... 

Dec. 19, Shoes. 1.14; so: - - Us, .50, . 

1890. 
Jan. 14. Trousers i socks, .08, 

Feb. 8, Undershirt. .50: drawers. .50. 

Feb. 38, Shoes, 1.14: overall; " 

Mch. 4, Coat, ..... 

Mch. 14, Drawers 5 3, . 

Mch. 24. Shirt. .50; undershir* " .50; socks 

- - 8,1 14. 
Apr. 10, Boots, 2.00; overalls, .50; shirt, .50; undershirt 
rawere, .50; socks, .06 
trousers, 2 

May 15, Coat, ..... 

May 17. Shirt. .50: undershirt, .50; drawer- 
socks - 

May 20, Shoes. 1.14; socks 

June 4, Braces, .25: undershirt, 

June 23, Shirt, .50: br . - ,~ 

June 24, Shirt, .50; undershirts, .50; drawers, .50: over 
alls. .50; socks r. 

July 1, Shirt, .50; undershirt, .50; drawer- 
alls \ socks 8 shoes, 1.14 

Aug. 4, Trousr- 2 rest 1.00, 

Aug. 8, Shirt, .50; undershirt, .50; drawers 
socks, .08. .... 



1.22 

S 

a 

3.00 
1.00 



1.00 
4.00 

3.00 

"- 
1.22 

. - 

a 2& 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xlix 

Brought forward, . (71.92 

Aug. 16, shirt, .50: undershirt, .50; drawers. .50; 

Sept. 1, Shoes, . . 1.14 

Oct. 3b es, 1.14; braces, .25, .... 1.39 

Shoes. 1.14: drawers. .50; overall v 5 "2 14 
Not. -2S. Co;;- 8 - cap. .45; boots. 2.00; 

socks - . . . . . 5.53 

Dec. 83, Shir - 5 undershirt. .50; drawers 

- v- - : 58— $85 

Li two years and seventeen days 185.28, or $41.36 per 
year. 

And this is not the worst case. In the Appendix will be 
found others with a still higher average. But this is suffi- The summary. 
eiently appalling — 5 coats; '.'pairs of trousers; 2 vests; 1? 
undershirts: 17 pairs drawers; 21 pairs socks; : hat: 1 jack 
veralls; -4 pairs braces; 17 shirts: 10 pairs shoes: -2 pairs 
^stowed by our hard-working day-laborers — for 
that is what it means — by our thrifty mechanics, our 2,4 
owners of small homes, from which they hope some day to 
lift the mortgages* — bestowed by them, we say. in one 
year, in charity, upon a man as well able to buy his own 
clothes and earn his own living as most of them. Bettei 
able: for it happens that this man. for a slight disability 

rived in the late war. has a pension of $8 per month. Nine : - id- 
Why is he not in one of our Soldiers 5 Homes? The 
United States Government places them almost at the door 
of her worthy veterans! Why were the other eight ex- 
soldiers, who were with him in our almshouse last year, not 
there? The answer is in the official record. Two dropped 
from our State Home at Darien for "absence without leave ": 
one because his " period of disability expired": one because n 

ind able-bodied and disqualified.'* One of these four 
had been discharged from the United States Soldiers" Home 
at Dayton. Ohio, another from the Eastern Branch at Togus 
Ale., before going to Darien. A fifth had been admitted to 
the United States Home at Hampton. Va. There is no 
record of his discharge. He probably deserted. 

A sixth has the following record, obtained from official 
sources: "Admitted to Eastern Branch. Togus. Ale.. Oct. 5. 



* In this town th^re are 1,2 lists : >,. O0 and under: 1,085 of over £2 

Mortgage* held on these to from two-fifths to one-half of their as- 
- - . value, on the average, in the opinion of competent ju"._ - 

4 



1 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

1867; transferred to Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio, Jan. 11, 
1868; discharged from Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio, date 
not given; readmitted to Eastern Branch, Togus, Me., Nov. 
5, 1869; deserted from Eastern Branch. Togus, Me., Mch. 15, 
1871; readmitted to Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio, July 10, 
1872; transferred from Central to Eastern Branch. Sept. 24, 
1881; dishonorably discharged from Eastern Branch. April 
21, 1884, for constant and repeated drunkenness, absence 
without leave, and for disorderly conduct in the ward, mak- 
ing himself a nuisance to the well-disposed members of the 
Home; pensioner at $24 per month, now probably receives 
$30." This man is not often at the almshouse. He is gen- 
erally in jail. But he is recognized also as having been at 
some time a pensioner of the town. The United States and 
the State Government are patient as well as generous to- 
wards those who wore the blue. Can the town of Hartford 
afford to be more generous and patient than they? 

Net cost per The average net cost of the inmates of the almshouse is 

82.56 per week. As already suggested, this might be re- 
duced perhaps 15 cents per week by more carefully credit- 
ing work done. The cost is now. however, below that of 
Worcester,* Mass. (150 inmates). $3.03 per week, and Phila- 
delphia! (971 inmates). $2.75 per week. The bill of fare} 
might possibly be modified, but could hardly be much cheap- 
ened. The bread is bought of a baker and costs 4 cents per 
pound. If it could be made in the institution, more indoor 
work would be provided, and there might be a slight econ- 
omy. In the Philadelphia public institutions^ their bread 
costs them lfg cents per pound, i. e.. we pay nearly two and 
a half times as much as they — (2.34). 

Average cost As would be expected after what lias been said above, 

of clothing. ,,,,,. r . T . 

the clothing average is very excessive. It is $19.18 per 
capita, and this is reduced for the men by the fact that it 
includes but little more than cost of material in the case of 
the women, since these make up most of their own gar- 
ments. Compare with this $19.18, the $4.21^% of the com- 
bined Philadelphia charitable and correctional institutions: 
or even the 814.49 of the Soldiers' Homes, where a uniform 
is always worn, and where dress as well as undress uni- 
forms are regularly issued. 

* Letter from Freeman Brown, Clerk Overseers of Poor. 
t Report, 1890, p. 104. Average number in both cases. 
% Given in the Appendix, with others for comparison. 
§ Report 1890, p. 37. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. ll 

The subsistence account is certainly not small consider- Average cost 
ing the bill of fare. It is $54.18 per capita. In the Phila- enceJ B 
delphia House of Correction it is $35.15.* At the Soldiers' 
Home,! the bill of fare of which is given in the Appendix, 
it is $50.88. The numbers J; provided for there are, however, 
respectively five and eight times as great as ours. 

The salary account is perhaps no larger than it should 
be.§ 

The cost per head is of course greatly increased by the 
character of the floating population, already more than 
once alluded to. These persons are everywhere and in 
every way a heavy burden to the community. We have 
said above that there were 94 persons who were convicted 
twice or oftener in the police court last year, of which once, 
at least, for drunkenness, and that nearly all of these had 
been at some time, or are now, in the almshouse. Let us The cost of 94 
see if we can ascertain what these 94 are costing us. 

1. They represent 232 convictions, i. e., 2.47 per head, l. Conviction 
by actual count. But each conviction! represents about 3. 9 andarrests - 
arrests, since many cases are not brought into court and 

many are acquitted. These 94 persons, therefore, were 
arrested in all 904.8 times, an average of 9.63 times. 

2. How much does each arrest cost ? It is not per- 
fectly, but it is approximately, accurate to say that it costs 
the total of the police department expenses divided by the 
number of cases before it. From the city treasurer we 2. Cost of 
learn that the police department cost $63,353.80 in 1890. To each arrest 
this, credit $554.72 for licenses, ft and $491.23, the profits, 

so to speak, of the police court, J J and we have a balance of 
$62,307.85, which is the net cost of the department. Divide 
this by 3,974, the total of arrests during the year,§§ and we 
have 615.68 for the cost of each arrest. Multiply our aver- 
age of arrests, 9.63, by this, and we have $151, which is the 
amount annually paid by the town of Hartford for the 
police care of these 94 persons. 



* $36.47 35-100 for men ; $33.82 33-100 for women. 

t Eastern Branch, Togus, Me. 

X In Philadelphia, 1,075 ; in Togus, 1,767. 

§ We have expressed our opinion as to having a special physician there. 

|| Table XIV. 

ft Peddlers, etc. 

XX $4,209.60 was paid out for it, and it brought in $4,700.83 in fines, etc. ! 

§§ Tables XIII, XIV. 



Hi 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



3. Fines and 
imprison- 
ment. 



4. Extra 
clothing. 



With clothe 
$4.40 per 
week. 



5. The plant. 



6. The sala- 
ries. 



All this per- 
manent. 



3. But this is only one item in their cost to us. Let us 
try to compute the rest. They were fined by the court in 
the aggregate $1,895.38, of which they paid only $103.04, 
leaving, therefore. $1,792.34 to be '''worked out." This, at 
fifty cents per day. the fixed commutation price, means 
3,585 days in workhouse or jail. But they also had a total 
of 12,050 days sentence. The two together make 15,635 
days for these 04. an average of 161 days, or 23 weeks. 
During this time they cost the town net about $2.56 per 
week, or $58.88. Add this to the $151, police expense, and 
we have a total of $2< 9.88, or $4.04 per week. This, how- 
ever, assumes that they cost no more than the average. 
That we know to be far from true. 

4". Thus, for clothing,* sixteen, chiefly from their num- 
ber, all of their kind, drew an average of per year, 
which is $18.77 above the general average, which they 
themselves have helped to swell to it> present enormous 
proportions. The same* facts would appear to a grea r 
les>er degree in other items, as medicine, nursing, medical 
attendance, stimulants, etc. But include this alone, and 
you have their total cost to the community. 
s4-.4l"> apiece per week. 

5. Even this is not all. There is the plant : say - 

at the almshouse ; $75,< 00 at the jail: A $25, at the police 
headquarters ; a part of the Halls of Record and the City 
Hall, not less than | more— in all. at lea-' $255, 

land and buildings which they and their like force us to 
own. The interest on this at four per cent, is over $1( . 
and they have their annual share in it. 

6. And then the salaries of the officials who are partly 
occupied with them. — judges, clerks, constables, sheriffs, 
selectmen. — and all this running straight back for years, 
as our Tables XII and XV show ; so that nearly half of the 
35 whom we culled out from the 94 because of a higher rate 
of convictions, are found in 1882 : while the police remem- 
ber others far beyond that point. And back there they are 
found, as they will be found nine years hence, as many of 
them as survive, before the police court once, twice, three, 
four times : in jail, workhouse, almshouse by turns, back 
to their old haunts: "drunk." ••vagabond."' "assault," 



* Table XVTL 

+ Total cost abont $180,000, and the town pays tv.o-rifths of the cost and running 

expels— 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. liii 

"breach of peace.*' occasional "theft" opposite their 
names ; all the time less and less capable of reformation, 
more and more injurious by example,* more and more sure 
tobectfme in the end an entire charge to the State. 

Xow what do we mean by all this — we citizens of the 
town of Hartford ? These people, these ninety-four, these 
thirty-five, are costing us not far from five dollars per week, 
year in year out. and from one decade to another. What Why are we 
are Ave supporting them at this high rate for ? We get a them°? tmS 
few days of fair work from some of them, after we have 
nursed them out of their deliriums and clothed and fed and 
stimulated them sufficiently. How much does that amount 
to ? Look at the credit side in our almshouse account and 
see. Are we protecting society against them ? Yes, 
during the periods of their detention. But, thereafter, 
with the regularity of the seasons, they disgust and 
demoralize, sometimes terrify, society by a debauch, or an 
orgy, the more energetic and scandalous for the nursing Effect on; 
we have given them. The common drunkard goes out society - 
rehabilitated, literally and figuratively. He at once 
reappears upon the scene, and begins a new career — as a 
drunkard this time, uncommon in fact, if not " common " in 
law. The harlot has had herself repaired so that she can 
hold together for a little while longer. She was, before, 
her own best warning. We have increased her power of 
doing harm by making her less obviously dangerous and 
repulsive. 

And are we reforming these people themselves ? Ah, if Effect on 
only we were ! What we are doing is just what never does them ' 
and never can reform them. Upon a common drunkard, 
for example, the judge can only inflict a penalty of 120 days 
detention. Did that ever reform anybody with that 
disease ? Is it likely to reform these chronic sufferers ? 

Does it better others ? They laugh at it. One hundred Effect on 
and twenty days in that comfortable almshouse — steam- 
heated: wire-woven mattresses; three meals a day; tobacco 
twice a week ; whisky and milk to pull you out of your 
last drunken fit, and rations of whisky to encourage you 
for any specially repulsive task ; a suit of clothes every 
time you go in, with the reasonable certainty that you can 



* The indictment against the offender always mentions his "evil example" as 
part of the legal crime. 



Hv REPOBT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

get another as soon as you have destroyed, or pawned this ! 
Deter them ! Why they come by - every winter and 

ask to be sent there, or to jail ! 

T families. And their families,, if they have any ! These people are 

at home just enough to destroy its peace and eat up its 
vings ; and not away long enough to enable the thrifty 
housewife to forget the visitation and recuperate from it. 
And their seed multiplying all the time and coming into 
the world predestinated, s t -peak, to a life of poverty 
and suffering, if not of vice. Contrast the lot of wife and 
children with that of the cause of their misfortunes. He 
gratifies his selfish passion and then retires for a while to a 
place of comfort where the conditions to longevity* are 
said to be more favorable than anywhere else. They stat- 
in their narrow quarters and worry and work and are 
satisfied if they can keep a roof over their heads and bread 
in their mouths. And contrast with his the lot of the 
temperate and industrious day laborer who with his best 
efforts must often fail to secure the physical comfort which 
comes to the other in his idleness and vice. 

The sole ques- Your committee is not making a temperance address. 

tion here. . ° . r . 

For their present purpose the only question is that ot econ- 
omy — dollars and cents: what the thing has cost, is cost- 
ing, must cost. It might be. so far as they are now con- 
cerned, tea, coffee, water, sugar, bread, anything, and if it 
seemed to be at the bottom of this heavy charge, which is 
rolling up a burden of debt year by year, for the patient 
and often poor taxpayer to carry, we should speak precisely 
as we do. But it happens to be no one of these. It is 
drunkenness. Whatever our views when we began, now. 
as we end the study of this subject, for us the question of 
alms here in Hartford is largely the question of drink. "We 
have found it among the families visited by our town phy- 
sicians, fully one-fourth of whom owe their illness and pov- 
erty to that cause + ; in the hospitals, where the physicians 



* We do not vouch for this; but many of the facts and some of the statistics 
which have come under our notice seem distinctly to favor the theory. In Paris. 
62.42 per cent, of the pauper population are over sixty-four years old. and 38.16 are 
over seventy. In 1886 there are said to have been 57.882 persons over seventy in the 
city. Of these nearly two-thirds were helped by the Assistance Pablique. See Ren- 
seignements statistiques snr la population indigents de Paris crapy- t I peri en 

1890. Paris. 1890. Nearly lifteen per cent, of our almshouse inmates are seventy or 
over, 9. Table XVI. 

t Report of one of the town doctors to us. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lv 

expect to find it in the town cases, and are surprised when 
they fail : in the insane retreats where the greatest of all 
the assignable causes of the disease is alcoholism ; in the 
County Home and the Orphan Asylum: among the sqan- 
derers of town orders: in the workhouse and the almshouse 
— everywhere, and everywhere the cause. And we meet it 
with from sixty to 120 days in workhouse or jail ! 

" What better ? " may be asked. What other States have The remedy, 
long been doing, we answer. Inflict long terms which can 
be shortened by good behavior. Pennsylvania and Massa- 
chusetts do this. The term with them may run on for 
three years, or even longer. Our old laws* of 1650 were 
more rational than the present. " If they offend the fourth 
time they shall be imprisoned until they put in two suffi- 
cient sureties for their good behavior." And in 1715 t they 
provided for a house or houses of correction where just such 
offenders as these might be kept for indefinite terms and 
put to work, the profit of their labor after paying expenses 
of their maintenance to go to their families. Something of 
the kind should be done now. The present system is very 
bad and should be speedily changed. And this is not our 
opinion alone. We are glad to say that it is shared by all 
the men most intimately brought into relation with the ad- 
ministration of justice in such cases, in this town and city. 
Among these we mention Judge Henney. the late, and Judge Men who fa- 
McConville the present judge of the police court, and Mr. TOrit - 
A. C. Bill, long its clerk: Chief of Police Packard, and Cap- 
tain of Police Bill : Officers Tinker, Walter Smith and Ly- 
man Smith. They are all men of long and large experi- 
ence, and if they err it is at least not from lack of knowl- 
edge of their subject, nor, we will add, through lack of sin- 
cere sympathy with the unfortunate beings with whom 
they have to deal. § 

Would there be any profit in the change ? Let us see. Possible 
These 94 cost us now, without reckoning plant or general P ront& - 
salaries, 84.40 per week. That would be, in two years, 
•$457. GO apiece. Imagine the term of detention extended to 
two years. The cost of maintenance, at present rates, 
would be 8266.24. The work of these men even now is esti- 



* See Appendix, p. 40. 
t See Appendix, p. 40. 

f For practical working of the proposed system see letters from the " Department 
of Public Safety.'* and the House of Correction, Philadelphia. Appendix, p. 77. 



lvi REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

mated at fifty cents per day, broken as it is and enfeebled 
as they often are. Would it be too much to call it seventy- 
five cents after the first quarter, and one dollar after the 
third, and a dollar and a quarter for the whole of the second 
year ? If not. their work, calling the first three months 
nothing, would be as follows : 

UP days, at $0.75, I -.00 

72 " " 1.00, . . . 72. 

313 " " 1. . . . 391.25— $571.25 

Subtract $266.24, cost of maintenance, and we have 
$305.01 in gain as against $457.60 dead loss : a total differ- 
ence of $762.61 apiece, or $71,685.34. Or. put it another 
way. We might show a net gain of 12? every two 

years where we are content to pocket a ne1 ss of 
$43,014.40. Of the net gain a considerable part might 
be distributed among the families of these persons and 
the town be still left no poorer in pocket but richer in 
the increased happiness and prosperity of a number of 
women and children, and the absence of the corrupting 
effect of 94 evil examples. 

And now. if it be objected "the police ex - will go 

on just the same." it is to be replied : They will at least not 
increase, as they otherwise must. And relatively they must 
with time go backwards. Is it of no significance," in this 
Philadelphia's connection, that Philadelphia built lew houses last 

example, year, representing an addition to her p< filiation almost as 
large as our entire numbers, and did it without adding to 
her police forcer How was this le ? The mayor* 

gives us one hint. In 1889 they had ewer arrests to 

make for drunkenness, and 4,000 fewer for all causes than 
in 1888. 

They were lightened of a burden, that is to say. 25 per 
cent, heavier than that which our whole police department 
had to carry last year.f And the chief of the department of 
Charities and Corrections gives us another. "These 
figures v — House of Correction — "'show a decrease in the 
population from the corresponding period of last year, of 
325, which we account for and attribute to the discretion 
shown by the court in granting licenses 

* Message : 1889, p. 6. Municipal Keport. 
t Our total of arrests in 1890 was 3,264^ v. Table XIV. 

J "Which fact." lie goes on to say. "must be highly gratifying: to all who 
take an interest in the high license law." Report of l v - - June 1. If 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lvii 

Thus much, then, in answer to the question — Who arc 
the inmates of the almshouse? In brief, they are for the The inmates, 
most part ex-criminals, many of whom belong to jail or 
house of correction, and with whom self-respecting poor 
persons should not be compelled to associate. Until you 
remove such from the almshouse you have no right to say 
to the 70 or 80 persons now assisted at their homes, but who 
ought, under a strict interpretation of the law T , to be in the 
almshouse, " go there, or else do without help !" 

And accordingly we recommend that they be removed. Recommend- 
The other question which we have proposed to ourselves 
under each head — " What are the business methods pursued Business 
in helping them?" — can be quickly dismissed, for it has 
already been partly answered. The most serious defect in 
present methods, and it is a very serious one, is this; No 
proper care is taken to secure and record the history of the 
persons admitted. Reference to our law will show the im- 
portance of the clear establishment of the question of legal 
settlement. We doubt whether this has ever been done in 
the larger number of cases. In fact, we find, on inquiry, 
that there are no records of the kind kept. On asking for Defective 
them at the selectmen's office we were referred to the master records - 
of the almshouse. On inquiry of him we were referred to 
the selectmen. The master of the house keeps record of 
admissions and discharges, but not the other.* So far as 
we can ascertain, the first selectman is never in position to 
know precisely who is in the almshouse, without communi- 
cating with the master, f Persons who present themselves 
for admission are admitted on a ticket, and of this no record Tickets used, 
is kept. Since any one of the five selectmen or their clerk, 
without conference and without a record, may give out 



the following licenses were in force in this town: Full, 183; special — liquor not to 
he drunk on the premises, 12 ; beer, 17 ; druggists, 27. Total 239, or one to every 
227.2 inhabitants. Two-thirds of these, or more, are east of the w r est side of Main 
street, where, at a guess, not more than a third of our population live, and whence 
come the greater part of our assisted cases. The propriety of including at least some 
of the druggists in the list of retailers will appear from the following : While waiting 
about half an hour in a drug store east of Main street one evening, a member of the 
committee saw the clerk put up one prescription and fill 6 bottles — 2 with 15 cents' 
worth, 1 with 10 cents' worth, 1 with 25 cents' worth of whisky ; 2 with 10 cents' worth 
each of gin — all without any apparent prescription. Of those w T ho came for the 
liquor, two were children, tw r o women, and one w r as a man. 

* Unless it may be in exigency cases. 

t And they are two miles apart, with no telephone. 



Mii REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

these tickets, the results which we have related above are 
easily accounted for. 

Criminals. Add to this the further fact that persons are frequently 

and repeatedly sent there who should be in jail, and the 
total outcome is explained. The first selectman feels this last 
difficulty and is anxious to have it obviated in some way. 

First select- He has suggested, and possibly it might be so contrived. 
gestion Ug that on persons applying for tickets a second or third time, 
after they have come and gone in the disgraceful way above 
described, they should receive a ticket which would have 
the effect of a commitment. The suggestion is certainly 
worthy of consideration on every account. 

IX. 

GENERAL DEDUCTIONS. 

General de- We have now exhibited the facts relating to the admin- 
ductions. juration of public relief in this town. And these are our 

(i) The system deductions from them. 1. The system is defective. We 
defective. can nQ ^ De ii eve the administrators of our laws to be inferior 
in mind and conscience to their colleagues in Massachusetts 
and Pennsyslvania, and New York, and in fact everywhere 
in America, and nearly everywhere in Europe. And yet 
we have seen Connecticut cities leading theirs in expendi- 
ture, without, so far as can be ascertained, surpassing them 

The Law. in efficiency. The law is cumbersome, and, in some points, 
obscure.* The system itself is largely one inherited from 
England,! but without some of the modern improvements 
of the English, and with some special defects of its own. 

First Select- The first selectman might do well enough for small commu- 
nities, and a patriarchal state of society, but for cities as 
large as this, and for society as at present organized, we 
believe him to be a foredoomed failure. He is elected for 
one year ; and yet here is one of the most difficult and deli- 
cate tasks in the world, to reconcile the claims of economy 

*See Appendix A, p. 29 — Present law concerning support and relivf of poor and con- 
cerning legal settlement, etc. For a Sketch of Us development, see p. 34. For Development 
and present status of Connecticut laws in the matter of idleness, vagrancy, drunkenness, and 
the like, see Appendix, p. 39. These are not meant to be exhaustive but, according to 
their title, sketches. 

tSee Sketch of the Historical Development of the English poor law : Appendix, p. 52. 
And, for purposes of comparison, a very brief outline of the history of the poor law 
in France and Germany is given on p. 58, et seq. followed by a description of the 
present law in Massachusetts, and an illustration of its working, p. 61. 



men. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lix 

and humanity ; to help without demoralizing ; to save mon- 
ey without neglecting suffering : to spend liberally without 
squandering. It is a trade — to be learned like any other 
trade \ and one year is not enough. An examination of 
Table IX very nearly demonstrates this. The greatest 
leaps in our rapidly accelerating career of lavishness have 
been at or near the commencement of terms of office. 
When men have learned, as they do only by experience, 
how much of truth there is in the words of a former first 
selectman quoted by his successor — " ninety per cent, of the 
cases are frauds'" — then they first begin to be of real use to 
the genuine poor and to the city. But when they have 
learned that lesson fully, and begun to act energetically 
upon it. will they continue to be first selectmen under our 
present system ? We believe thoroughly in popular gov- 
ernment. But it has its limitations, and here it seems to 
reach them. We have no direct evidence of undue politi- 
cal influence : though, since human nature is human na- 
ture, we see no way how political influence can fail to be 
felt. We have, however, abundant evidence of personal 
influence in the shape of strong pressure, from private in- 
dividuals to do this or that. This can not be avoided en- 
tirely under any system, but under the present it has a 
power which is pretty sure to do great harm. Until the 
system for the State is changed, we think Hartford ought 
to seek a special organization of her charitable administra- 
tion similar to that which prevails in many other cities, in- 
cluding some in Connecticut. She may not be in position A commission 
to do this now, and we do not recommend it now. But that of 5. h ^ ri , ties 

■n 11 i n i i predicted. 

it will come eventually we hardly doubt. 

2. But the system, such as it is, has not been worked (2) Thesys- 
with sufficient care and energy. The law, indeed, is com- ^roughly 
plicated, and makes some unfair discriminations. \ But it worked. 
is at least logical. It constitutes, it is true, a commune 
here ; turns us into a great mutual benefit society. But it 
does not do, what no sensible commune or mutual benefit 
society could afford to do, offer these advantages of the com- 
munity life without requiring a certain standard of thrift, 
and without forbidding the admission of those who are below 
that standard. In a word, the State of Connecticut is not a 
fool! 



t Chiefly against citizens of Connecticut and other parts of the United States, v. 
Appendix, p. 33. 



lx 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



Ge>t:rai 

>IE>DA- 



The profes- 
sional pau- 



GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Eeforni the system, then, if you can and will ; but mean- 
while, and in any event, enforce the law. carefully, intelli- 
gently, energetically, humanely : just as it is ; as long as it 
is. Find out and record, in every instance, where people 
■•belong" and what their estate is. Remove them to their 
town, or State, or country, when they have become cha _ 
able to us, before the expiration of the limit fixed by the 
law. Stop maintaining people outside of the almshous 
soon and a^ often as you possibly can. See that what you 
give in aid i- bestowed upon proper persons in the shape of 
ssary articles. Take everything int.- your own hands, 
provisioning, clothing, burying. Examine at first: keep ex- 
amining frequently thereafter. Make and publish rules 
concerning all the<e matters s that no one may plead ig 
ranee. Reduce outdoor alms to a minimum. We do not 
amend its abs I lsc< -ntinuance. though Philadelphia 

and Brooklyn and other places have virtually done so, and 
men of eminence as administrators and of great benevolence 
favor it. :;: It can be cut down to very nearly the vanishing 
point without, in our opinio g tly increasing the other 
branches of our iiture. Possibly they might all be 

reduced simultaneously. Such, at least, has been the expe- 
rience of more than one community. 

In all these ways, steadily per- in. take away from 

this town its evil pre-eminei. 

There i- a >f crab, so the naturalists tell us. which 

es into the world with all the organs uf his kind fully 
developed. Presently he fastens himself upon a fish and 
begins to draw his life from it. And now by degrees he 
parts with one organ after another, until finally he has noth- 
ing left in active use except mouth and stomach and appar- 
atus for reproduction and for holding on. Such is the pro- 
fessional pauper. Such, we believe, by all the symptoms, 
has come to be the state of a considerable percentage of our 
assisted population. They have lost their own manhood. 
They have put themselves and their families into a position 
of humiliating dependence and tutelage: and their example 



* "re letters from Seth Low. President of Columbia College. ex-Mayor of Brook- 
lyn, and William Vallanee. Clerk of the Board of Guardians. Whitechapel Union. 
London. Appendix, pp. 66 - 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lxi 

is infectious. They are the product of time and even of 
heredity. The first selectman has alluded, in one of his 
reports, to the generation-after-generation * paupers that 
he ha*s been called upon to provide for. It may therefore 
take time to root them out. But a beginning ought to be 
made, and it ought to be made now. Xeglect of the law is 
chiefly responsible for their existence. Execute the law. 
and they will surely, if slowly, disappear. Nor will they Execute the 
die in the operation. Our recommendation is as beneficent law * 
for them as it i> wholesome for us. 

The foregoing conclusions have been reached after long 
and careful study. This committee has not spared itself. 
Made up of busy men. it has gladly placed its time at the 
disposal of the town. We have taken nothing for granted. 
We have obtained our facts from first sources. We have Our methods. 
no reason to believe that we have always escaped error, 
but we venture to think that none of our mistakes will 
prove to be of real importance. 

Following the terms of our commission we have neither 
investigated nor attacked the selectmen. We have con- Relation5 , vith 
f erred with them formally several times, informally very tne selectmen. 
often. And we bear cheerful witness to the courtesy with 
which we and our suggestions have been received by them, 
as we trust they will not fail to bear witness to our own 
courteous treatment of them. We are glad to say that the 
business of the office is conducted in a systematic manner 
in most things. The defects are chiefly due to a failure to 
adhere rigidly at all times to the system in existence. In 
some statistical matters, indeed, our selectmen's office has 
reached a degree of scientific excellence which is not often 
surpassed in this country. Furthermore, things appear in 
the annual reports under their proper names. As already 
stated, a better showing even might occasionally be made 
with complete truthfulness. There has been no suppression 
of facts + in any matter of importance, and, so far as we 
know, no deliberate suppression in anything. And in any 



-Report of 1885, p. 35. 

+ We have noted but one possible exception. Two paupers, who should have 
been supported in the almshouse if anywhere, Lave been boarded at the town's charge 
in the State almshouse at TarirTville for five and a half and one and a half years re_ 
spectively. and no return made of them, so far as we can discover. They have, how- 
ever, been paid for by credits upon the account between the town and the State alms- 
house, and have cost the town less there than ihey would have cost here. Moreover, 
we understand that they have been now returned to the town aim-house. 



Ixii REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

strictures that Tve may seem to have made upon the board 
of selectmen or their chairman, it must be distinctly under- 
stood that we have been dealing with a system and not with 
individuals or any individual. We have not the shadow of 
a doubt concerning the complete integrity of the adminis- 
trators of this important branch of our public affairs, and 
have no reason for entertaining any such doubt. 

XL 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

We have been greatly aided in our work by many per- 
sons, whom we desire publicly to thank. With absolutely 
no puwer to send for persons and papers, we have never 
found any insuperable difficulty in the way of securing 
needed information. ( >f Hartford citizens who have laid 
us under special obligations we beg to mention His Excel- 
lency Governor M. G. Bulkeley. who has helped us by his 
large acquaintance with our civil affair-: Jas. P. Andrews. 

. and ex-Judge Chas. H. Briscoe, who have freely p] 
at our disposal their special knowledge in the matter of the 
present laws concerning legal settlement: Judges Henney 
and McConville of the Police Court. A. C. Bill. Esq.. Clerk 
of the same court, and the Hon. C. J. Cole of the Hartford 
bar. A. L. Shipman. Esq.. has zealously and efficiently 
acted under our direction in various matters, of which men- 
tion is made at the proper places. The Chief and Captain 
of Police have furnished valuable facilities in their office, 
and. together with Officers Tinker. Walter Smith, and Lyman 
Smith, have given us the benefit of their long experience. 
We gladly bear witness to their zeal and to the humanity of 
their sentiments. Doctors Russell. Stearns of the Hartford 
Hospital for the Insane. Hastings. Wainwright. and Olm- 
sted of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane. Middletown, 
have placed their special acquirements at our service. The 
Assessors and the Treasurer ; Doctor Knight, formerly, and 
Dr. Mc v amara. now town physician, have given valuable 
information. Professor Riggs of Trinity College has given 
help, elsewhere acknowledged,, and we are indebted to State 
Librarian Charles J. Hoadly. and to Mr. F. B. Gay of the 
Watkinson Library, for many kindnesses. The antiquarian 
knowledge of the former has facilitated the preparation of 
some matter found in the Appendix. Gen. W. B. Franklin. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Ixiii 

President of the Board of Managers of the National Home 
for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers of the United States, has 
cheerfully aiTswered many questions, and Acting Assistant 
Inspector Buckingham of his office, has been similarly cour- 
teous. The officers of the Hartford Hospital and of the 
Town Almshouse have complied promptly with our many 
requests for memoranda from their books. Mr. Hotchkiss, 
Commissioner of Labor, has kindly favored us with advance 
sheets of his report. The Rev. Professor Graham Taylor 
has placed at our disposal pamphlets relative to the Organ- 
ized Charity movement which has so much good in store 
for the genuine poor of this community, as we trust. Mr. 
Thaye r*s work has already been noticed. 

Beyond Hartford, in our own State, we have to thank 
Mr. W. C. White, Esq.. for his invaluable pamphlet,* and 
for important information: Prof. C. A. Lindsley. Secretary 
of the State Board of Health, for many highly appreciated 
favors: and Judge Stoughton of East Hartford. The select- 
men of New Haven. Bridgeport, and Xew London have 
replied promptly to letters of inquiry. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the statute which re- gec 3312 
quires all overseers of the poor. i. e., selectmen (sec. 3299) to 
send statistics of their office annually to the State Board of 
Charities is not enforced. It probably will not be so long 
as there is no penalty attached. It is also to be regretted sec. 1887. 
that the statute which requires the State Board of Charities 
to collect information and statistics relating to pauperism, 
and to publish the same in an annual report, is not enforced. 
We have been compelled to seek long and painfully, by 
correspondence with selectmen and otherwise, for facts 
which should have been obtainable in these documents 
which the statutes provide for. 

Outside of Connecticut we have to thank first of all 
Freeman Brown, Clerk of the Overseers of the Poor in 
Worcester, Mass. We have wearied the mails in asking 
him questions, and if the business-like and economical 
administration of his office were not evidence enough of 
his fitness for it, his patience towards our mendicant 
appeals for information would amount to a demonstration. 
With a salary of 81.500 and clerk hire amounting to S950, 

* Report to Taxpayers' Association. Xew Haven. 1S86. 



lxiT REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

he attends to all the concerns of the care of the poor in 
a city of 84,000 inhabitants to the satisfaction, we judge, of 
everybody. We are also under obligations to the clerk of 
the Bureau of Charities and Corrections and of Public- 
Safety, in Philadelphia, and to President, formerly Mayor, 
Seth Low for courteous replies to letters. 

Beyond the United States, Sir Morrell Mackenzie of 
London, Mr. William Vallance of Whitechapel Union and 
Mr. George Rooke of Manchester, with John Mark. Esq., 
the mayor of Manchester, who gave personal attention to 
our request for information, have earned our gratitude. 
Sir Morrell Mackenzie's reputation as a surgical specialist is 
paralleled by that of Mr. Vallance and Mr. Rooke in Poor- 
Law administration. Their work is studied and imitated 
very extensively in Great Britain. In France we have to 
thank the Prefet of the Seine for forwarding our letter, and 
M. E. Peyron. head of the charitable administration of the 
city for a valuable letter and most useful documents. In 
Germany. Prof. David Simonson of Dresden lias kindly 
secured for us and forwarded the latest reports and docu- 
ments relating to the Poor-Law administration of Dresden, 
Saxuny. In Rome, the Rev. Dr Xevin has taken great 
pains in securing an official account of Poor-Law adminis- 
tration there. This list is large, but it might more justly be 
lengthened than reduced. A partial list of books con- 
sulted is given at the end of the Appendix. It may be of 
value. 

XII. 

It only remains for us to make our formal recommenda- 
tions. These are — 

I. as to RENTS. 

We recommend that no rents be paid except to families 
who have a legal settlement in this town and in each of 
which families there is at least one child under the age of 
fourteen years : that no rent in excess of four dollars per 
month shall be paid in any case, and that a list of all such 
payments be included by the selectmen in their annual 
printed report. 



REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. Jxv 



Resolution. 



Voted. That from and after the first day of July. 1891, 
the selectmen shall not pay out any money for or on 
account of rent to any person except in cases where a per- 
son having a legal settlement in this town, and having in 
his family one or more children under the age of fourteen 
years who also have a legal settlement in this town, is 
found by the selectmen, upon investigation, to be worthy of 
such assistance and not to have estate sufficient for his or 
their support or any relative of sufficient abilhVy who is 
obliged by law to support him or them. 

Voted. That the selectmen shall not in any case pay 
out any money for or on account of rent exceeding $4 per 
month. 

II. AS TO ORDERS. 

We recommend that all orders issued by the selectmen 
for admission to the almshouse, to any hospital, for medical 
attendance, or for coal or provisions, shall be taken, when 
issued, from books provided with stubs, duly numbered to 
correspond with the orders, upon which stubs shall be 
entered a record of the transaction with the name of the 
person by whom the order is authorized to be given out. 

We also recommend that either before the issue of any 
order for admission to the almshouse, or within forty-eight 
hours thereafter, an investigation shall be made by or for 
the selectmen into the case, and that the case of the person 
so admitted shall then be disposed of as the law and the 
facts shall justify, and that a record of such investigation 
shall be entered upon such stub ; that, except in cases of 
emergency, no order for admission to any hospital (other 
than an insane hospital) shall be issued without the written 
approval of a town physician after personal examination 
of the case, and that, whenever an order has been issued in 
an emergency case without such approval, notice shall be at 
once given to one of the town physicians, who shall per- 
sonally examine into the case and make a report thereon 
within three days thereafter, with his approval or dis- 
approval indorsed thereon. 

Resolutions. 

Voted, That the selectmen be, and they are hereby, 
directed from and after the first day of August, 1801, to 



Ixvi EEPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

take from books with proper stubs, duly numbered to cor- 
respond, all orders then and thereafter issued by them for 
admission to the almshouse, to any hospital, for medical 
attendance, or for coal or provisions, and to enter upon the 
stub when any order is issued a record of the transaction 
with the name of the person by whom the order is author- 
ized to be given out. 

Voted, That the selectmen be, and they are hereby, 
directed, either before issuing any order for admission to 
the almshouse or within forty-eight hours thereafter, to 
investigate or cause to be investigated the case of the per- 
son applying for such order, and to dispose of such case as 
the law and the facts will justify, and to enter a record of 
such investigation upon the stub for such order. 

Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are, 
directed not to issue, except in cases of emergency, any 
order for admission to any hospital (other than an insane 
hospital) to any person without the written approval of a 
town physician, after a personal examination of the case ; 
and whenever, in any emergency case, an order shall be 
issued without such approval, the selectmen are directed to 
notify one of the town physicians forthwith, and request 
him to personally examine into the case and make a report 
to the board within three days thereafter, with his approval 
or disapproval endorsed thereon. 

III. AS TO INVESTIGATION. 

We recommend that in no case shall any assistance be 
given to any party exceeding in the aggregate one dollar 
and fifty cents until an investigation of the case shall have 
been made and a written report, signed by one of the select- 
men or by another person and approved by one of the 
selectmen, shall have been filed in the office of the select- 
men ; and that after help has once been given, assistance 
shall not be continued for a longer period than two months 
without another such investigation. 

Resolution. 

Voted, That the selectmen be, and they are hereby, 
directed not to give any assistance to any party exceeding 
in the aggregate one dollar and fifty cents until an investi- 
gation of the case shall have been made and a written 



REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. lxvii 

report filed with the clerk of the board, which shall be 
signed by one of the board, or by a person employed by thfe" 
board, and the report approved by one of the board ; and 
that after help has once been given, assistance shall not be 
continued for a longer period than two months without 
another such investigation. 

Voted, That the selectmen are hereby directed not to 
issue any order to any person for any assistance, except to 
persons who have not estate sufficient for their support and 
no relatives of sufficient ability who are obliged by law to 
support them. 

IV. AS TO GROCERY ORDERS. 

We recommend a discontinuance of all grocery orders, 
and that in proper cases only the selectmen shall issue from 
a store-room of not more than ten articles such provisions as 
they may find required by the poor for necessary support. 

Resolution. 

Voted, That the selectmen are hereby directed not to 
give to any person after the 31st day of July, 1891, any 
order for groceries. 

Voted, That the selectmen establish a store-room, 
wherein shall be kept not more than ten articles ; and after 
July 31, 1891, in proper cases, the selectmen may issue 
therefrom to worthy persons having a legal settlement in 
this town, and who have not estate sufficient for their sup- 
port and no relative of sufficient ability who is legally 
obliged to support them, a proper amount of said provisions 
from time to time, but only so long as otherwise proper. 

V. AS TO MEDICAL ATTENDANCE. 

We recommend that no general order for medical or sur- 
gical attendance shall be issued, but only for a then existing 
sickness or injury; and that the physician shall return said 
order to the selectmen's office at the end of said sickness, 
with an endorsement by him thereon, stating the nature of 
the disease or injury and the number of calls received or 
visits made therein by him, with the dates. 

And that in no case shall any order of any kind be issued 
except to persons who have not estate sufficient for their 
support and no relative of sufficient ability who is obliged 
by law to support them. 



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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. l.xix 

Resolution. 

Voted. That the Board of Selectmen be, and they here- 
by are. directed annually during the month of November to 
request in writing the Hartford Medical Society to nomi- 
nate at least four •"good and competent" physicians for the 
office of town physician ; and if said nominations are made 
within thirty days thereafter, the Board of Selectmen shall 
choose two town physicians from among those so nominat- 
ed, and these two physicians shall have medical and surgi- 
cal care of the persons at the almshouse, they shall furnish 
their own books and instruments, and the salary of each of 
them shall not exceed $600 per annum. 

VIII. AS TO THE ALMSHOUSE. 

We recommend that the status of the present almhouse 
be definitely declared. 

Resolution. 

Voted, That the buildings lately erected upon the town 
farm constitute and are hereby established as a "poor- 
house " for the admission of poor persons as authorized by 
law. 

We recommend that a committee of seven, of whom the 
first selectman shall be one, and the superintendent of the 
almshouse shall be another, be chosen to draft new by-laws 
for the management of the poor persons in said almshouse, 
and report to a future meeting. 

Resolution. 
Voted, That the first selectman, the superintendent of 
the almshouse and 



be and they are hereby appointed a committee to draft new 
by-laws for the management of the poor persons in the 
poorhouse, and to report to a future town meeting. 

IX. AS TO BURIALS. 

We recommend that no money be paid as a contribution 
to the burial expenses of any person; that such payments 
shall be confined strictly to pauper burials, where the select- 
men take entire charge of the interment and pay the whole 



lxx 7.1? MR 7 THE COIDDTT?? 

?:: enses thereof, which in nc ase shall exceed th- 

~f:eezi .". :llar- 

I 

Votkd, That on and after the 1st day of July. 18 1. the 
selectmen shall not pay out any money as a contributi: 

bub assist Qoefc i the burial expenses of any d per- 

son, but nothing herein shall prevent the selectmen from 
giving to any pauper a decent burial in any common ground 
reserve I for or dedicated to that purpose by any Cemetery 
A - - nation or Church Society, or by the town, and in all 
such sases : - electnien shall undertake the whole manage- 
ment an se of the burial, and in no case shall the en- 
tire ex] ense exceed fifteen dollars, which may include a 
disbursement of three dollars for digging and filling the 

X. AS TO THE PUKISHMKNT 7 KBTAIH - AFTER 

SE ::": irvi ?~ 

We recommend that a committee of seven persons, of 
whom the first selectman shall be one. and the attorney ap- 
pointed by the selectmen shall be another, be appointed to 
Eir before the proper legislative committee and ask that 
the law may be so amended that every son liable to be 
committed to any workhouse, if he shall be con vie* 
third time,, may be confined in said workh ; ail for a 

longer time than 130 days, and until the costs ition 

and commitment shall be satisfied. 

XI. We would ; mm end the following general 

Lotions : 

Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are 
~ed and directed to prepare annually and to include in 
their printed report a table covering the same subject-mat- 
ter as Table IX annexed to the report of the special corn- 
mine- n w on lei nsideration. and which table shall « 
a period of ten years then next preceding. 

Voted, That the selectmen be. and they hereby are 
_; -red and directed to inquire into the financial condition 
and legal settlement of each applicant to them for a- > 
ance. either before giving any assistance, or within 
week thereafter, including in such inquiries an investiga- 
tion as to moneys, property, annuities, pensions, life insur- 
ance, and persons legally liable for the support of such 
applicant, all of which investigation shall be made a matter 
of record. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lxxi 

Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are, 
directed to include in their annual printed reports to this 
town, commencing with 1892, a list of all persons who on or 
after>the first day of October, 1891, have been supported in 
any institution, with the name of the same, and also a list of 
all persons who, subsequent to said first day of October, 

1891, have received assistance in any way from the town to 
an aggregate of eight dollars or more, with the amount of 
such assistance in each case. 

Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are, in- 
structed and directed to cause their office to be kept open 
daily for the transaction of business from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 
Sundays and holidays excepted ; and they are also directed 
to keep a record of the business transacted at their meetings 
with the names of those of the board present. 

Believing as we do, that if the above recommendations 
are approved and the resolutions passed, and if the select- 
men shall intelligently and honestly administer the affairs 
of the town in accordance therewith, their active duties 
will be largely increased, and that they should be prop- 
erly compensated therefor, we recommend that from and 
after the first day of January, 1892, the selectmen, other 
than the first selectman, shall receive a salary of $400 each. 

The constitutional amendment prohibits any increase of 
salary to the present selectmen. 

We believe that the present salaries are more than suffi- 
cient, if the administration of the town affairs is to be con- 
tinued as in the past. 

Resolution. 

Voted, That from and after the first day of January, 

1892, the salary of each of the selectmen of this town, other 
than the first selectman, shall be $400. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

Jno. J. McCook, 
A. E. Burr, 
Judson H. Root, 
Charles E. Gross, 
Wm. B. Clark. 

Hartford, Conn., June 8, A.D. 1891. 



TABLE L — HARTFORD COMPARED WITH 38 
AMERICAN CITIES. 1 

A.D. 1SS5. 



Gross Expense 
Population. for Outdoor 
Relief. 



Net Evnense Tax pcr Tax P er ca P- 
; !■ .11 n«ii > capita for all ita for Out- 
tor all Keliet. ' D ,• c , . D ,. c 
Kehef. door Relief. 



Hartford, 


45,000 


$40,372.84 

38,906.75 

26,362.62 

12,919.58 

23,593.75 

12,094.53 

15,072.09 

3,723.81 

4,807.51 

6,959.16 i 

5,750.77 i 

8,398.08 


$93,344.73 
98,935.64 
37,278.04 
22,664.30 
38,694.68 
18,680.24 
23,651.64 
9,939.20 
10,977.35 
12,262.63 
13,384.39 


$2.07 
• 1.30 

1.03 
.81 

1.54 
.74 

1.39 
.62 
.73 
.82 

1.11 


$0.90 
.51 
.73 
.46 


Xew Haven, 

Bridgeport, 

Waterbury, 


76,000 
36,000 
28,000 


Norwich, 

Meriden, 


25,000 
25,000 


.94 
.48 


Xew Britain, 


17,000 


.89 


Xorwalk, 


..1 16,000 


23 


Daubury, 

Derby, 

Xew London 

Stamford, 


15.000 

15,000 

12,000 

.. 14,000 


.32 
.46 
.48 
.60 









Connecticut, } 

12 Cities. Total, \ 



324,000 $198,961.49 $379,812.84 Av. $1.22 Av. $.61 



Boston, 

AVorcester 


390,406 
68,383 
64,051 
37,577 
56,863 


$95,804.06 

16,578.96 

17,981.00 

5,268.08 

2 


$547,595.35 
40,285.40 
66,311.96 
25,103.74 
53,000.00 


$1.40 

.59 

1.03 

.66 

.93 . 


$0.25 
.24 


Lowell 

Springfield, ! 

Fall River 


.28 
.14 








Massachusetts, ) 
5 Cities. Total, j" 


617,280 


$135,632.10 


$732,296.45 Av 


. $1.16Av 


. $.24 



Providence, 
Bangor,. . . . 




120,000 
18,000 
12,500 
22,000 
14,000 


£6,022.70 
4,945.00 
6,319.52 

2 


$18,606.51 

11,836.03 

9,935.59 

9,997.26 

10,894.75 


$0.16 $0.05 
.66 .27 


Rutland,. .. 
Pawtucket, 




.79 .51 
,45 j 


Concord,. . . 


2 


.77 








Other A 7 . E. 
5 Cities. 


Cities, I 
Total, j 


186,500 


$17,287.22 


$61,270.14 Av 


: $.33 Av. $.12 



Xew York, 

Kings County, X.Y., 
of which Brooklyn 
constitutes |f, 

Buffalo, 

Albany, 



1,325,000 $32,051.52 $981,356.20 $0.74 $0.24 

700,000 286,760.11 .41 

225,000 52,452.85 162,148.92 .72 .23 

100,000 17,092.94 53,957.49 .54 ! .17 



New York, 

4 Cities. Total, 



2,350,000 $101,597.31 $1,484,222.72 Av. $.63 Av. $.43 



TABLl I. — Continued. 



ClTT. 



Gross Expense v F Trw>na - Taa per Tax per cap 
Population. for Outd «.r fo,-iTii.w capita for all rt« for Out- 
Relief, for all Relief. ReUef door ReIief . 



Philadelphia, 

.... 


200,000 
90,000 

425,000 


32,52 

,2.14 



88,066.86 
3.5.' 

46 74 
154,400.00 


| 

.44 
.39 

.36 


- 22 
.16 


Allegheny 

ft District. 
KalMmnrp 


.12 

.12 








P- .and Ma -ufd, i 
tal, f 


.000 


jn - 


| - £ 




Chicago 

Cleveland. 

il 


.000 

000 

160,000 

1.354 


$117,31 

37.4 3 5.1 


54,8 

90,513.42 

67.46 
36,2 


- ! 

.29 

5 

.29 
^64 


.23 


.ukee 

Toledo, 


. 


Charleston 'figures 
for 1882 . . .' 


i 

3 


: 


^Norfolk 


- 








3 


536.00 


$833,030.31 


- . 


Av. $.17 



SUMMARY. 



s 


Population Gross Eipet,- - _ _ 

of the •! - r "-" "- '- 

included. Relief. _ j*| 

~ - 
z - - 
Z < 


s 

for all Relief. 

Z 


5r~ 

< 


Connecticut cities. . . 324,000 - - 


-4 11 


$1.22 


- .chusetts r. 
Other Xew Eng 
cities 


632.10 4 .24 

186,5 

2,350.000 5OT 1 3 .04 

:: MS :: i 

1.3-54.672 206,. 536. 00 4 .17 


! . ti 45 5 1.16 
W0.14 5 .33 


New York cit: 
Penn. and Md 

item and South 
ern cities. 


1,484.222.72 4 .63 
50,188,39 5 .38 

31 7 .62 




n is $.n 







ndensed from Henry C. Whites Report of the 

with one column added. 
"Not ascertained. 



3 



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TABLE VI.— RECAPITULATION OF TOWN 
CASES INVESTIGATED. 

CASES HELPED BY THE TOWN JANUARY 1, 1891. 



Total. 



Worthy. 



Almshouse. 



Need no Aid. 



4 (24 per cent.) 7 (41 per cent.) 
8 (30 per cent.) | 9 (35 per cent.) 
4 (15 per cent.) | 16 (62 per cent.) 



Iin20, 17 6 (35 per cent.) 

D 26 9 (35 per cent.) 

M., 26 6 (23 per cent.) 

Mc, 19 j 2 (11 per cent.) ! 5 (26 per cent.) 12 (63 per cent.) 

Others, 43 10 (23 per cent.) | 8 (19 per cent.) I 25 (58 per cent.) 

Remaining, ... 222 56 (25 per cent ) j 54 (24 per cent.) 112 (51 per cent.) 



Total, 353 89 (25 per cent.) 



83 (24 per cent.) < 181 (51 per cent.) 





47 Cases. - 


— Wages Earned by Families. 




Number in Family. 


Per Week. 


$9 to $12. $12 to $15. $15 to $20. 


Over $20. 


3 to 7 


Total, 47 


33 


5 8 


1 



In a few cases the income from rent of rooms is included in the above. 



.10 "Kill. lis lilt I \ 



. 






,: : .:': : .::..: ;: 









11 
TABLE VIIL— BURIALS AT PUBLIC EXPENSE. 

Comparison of Hartford irith Thirty other Cities. 



Pauper Burials. 



Ci rv ob Commune. 



Population. 



Number. 



Cost. 



Aquila degli Abruzzi,. 

Teramo 

Catanzaro, 

Cosenza, 

Naples 

Salerno, 

Bologna 

Parma 

Genoa, 

Brescia 

Milan 

Ancoua, 

Pesaro e Urbino, 

Xovara, 

Turin, 

Rome, 

Cagliari, 

Sassari 

Catania 

Palermo, 

Leghorn, 

Pisa, 

Padua 

Venice, 



24 Italian Communes, 



Dortmund, 

Dresden, 

Elberfeld, 

Whitechapel 

Philadelphia 

Worcester, Mass.,. 



1S.426 .$236 

20,309 176 

28,594 32 

16,686 66 

494,314 34,158 

31,245 334 

123,274 191 

45,217 ... 159 

179,515 913 

60,630 1,650 

321,839 3,084 

47,729 415 

20,909 546 

33,077 816 

252,832 832 

300,467 1,219 

38.598 4 

36.317 

100,417 446 

244,991 345 

97,615 544 

53,957 482 

72,174 1,303 

132,826 1,907 

2,392,744 $49,858 

77,500 1,294 

259,000 247 932 

106,499 138 

71,582- 1,208 

1,046,964 243 

84,655 521 



6 Other Cities, 


1,646.200 .. 




4,336 










Hartford, 


53,230 


224 


2,591 




HARTFORD. 







Pauper Burials for 
Tex Years. 



Year. 



Number. 



Hartford, 1881, 193 

1882, 176 

1883, 225 

1884, 228 

1885, 209 

1886, 193 

For cost, etc., see Table IX. 



Pauper Burials for 
Tex Years. 



Year. 



Hartford, 1887, 

" 1888, 

" 1889, 

" 1890, 

Average, 



Number. 

235 
183 
232 
225 

209.9 



c 



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i«tt,nufc» 






II., 




ttro™S™.°'""'° 
























MEDICAL ATTENDANCE, AND RECORD OF CASUAL LODGERS A.H is, 



„';.:;: ':;::.: 














"' 


- 








1. 













,:,:,::!, 







-" 


L Ivr-L. 




80,000 




107 
























40,140 I 21 




950 
























10,687 




870 
























41, HIT 




310 





























355 
808 


































































L 




"40 


683 








'•1,390 


»inn 
















,5, 


404 


II :i 


,., 


m 


031 


052 


,00 


l.i'l 


178 


l 507 




.1 :l 




, 03 




r. ;oo 





^ 


133 


"45 


708 


708 


sea 


1,100 




..... 


9,984 


8,040 


., 1 








[6,823 




362 




"45 


7T1 


101 


083 


1,810 


9,393 


928 


■ 181 


.: 101 


1.18 




10 




fe801 . 


■■.•in 


ISO 




"78 


984 


000 


I ■'.,; 


1.(110 


8,870 


■■.in 


; i 


9,060 







13 81 




' 


48,95* 


334 


371 


150 


"71 


838 


017 


1,901 


1.050 


9, II 


1113 


8,084 


8,800 




■ 




i 'i, 




60,030 


230 


308 


ISO 


11 


860 


888 


541 


1.035 


■J, iv 


336 


'-',117 


8.977 


:, 87 






', .; 




51,093 


287 


301 


113 


"113 


a 


779 


1,000 


1,800 


'.'.M 


,83 


164 


9,800 




n no 


i 19 




i 


KS.IOO 


351 


KM 


it; 


" 


■.in 


800 


1,009 


i •'»:. 


",.|| 


■■■ 




.; 191 










' 


68,880 25 1 


"' 


608 


180 


■ HI 


i.ooa 


718 


800 


■.917 


,.„, 


ill 




:.:■: 








19 .i 














■ .', 


,11. 


1 , 'I 


1,0116 




........ 




Ilii 1 ;■ 



15 



TABLE X.— ADMISSIONS AND DISCHARGES 
>. OF^ TWELVE INMATES OF THE 
ALMSHOUSE. 







Total 


Time Covered 


Number. Admitted. 


Discharged. 


Admis- 


by 






sions. 


Admissions. 


Number 1 — [Brings 


Feb. 15, 1889. 


July 25, 1889. 






child with her. Has 


July 30, 1889. 


Sept, 4, 1889. 






come intoxicated. 


Sept. 11, 1889. 


Nov. 7, 1889. 






Is able-bodied.] Is 


Nov. 8, 1889. 


Nov. 14, 1889. 






No. 1 of Table xviii. 


Nov. 23, 1889. 
May 16, 1890. 


Jan. 28, 1890. 
July 29, 1890. 








Aug. 29, 1890. 


Nov. 5, 1890. 


7 


18^ months. 


No. 2 — [" Remains 


Mch. 21, 1889. 


Mch. 25, 1889. 






only to get over her 


April 11, 1889. 


April 15, 1889. 






drunk. Is able-bod- 


July 12, 1889. 


July 16, 1889. 






ied."] Is No. 2 of 


Aug. 26, 1890. 


Aug. 27, 1890. 






Table xviii. 


Sept. 3, 1890. 
Oct. 10, 1890. 
Oct. 16, 1890. 


Sept. 4, 1890. 
Oct. 14, 1890. 
Oct. 22, 1890. 








Nov. 29, 1890 




8 


20 months. 


No. 3 — [ Common 


Aug. 9, 1889. 


Aug. 17, 1889. 






drunkard. Able- 


Sept.17,1889— 


Oct. 29, 1889. 






bodied ] Is No. 3 


(committed). 








of Table xviii. 


Nov. 5, 1889 — 
(committed). 

Feb. 7, 1890 — 
(committed). 


Jan. 16, 1890. 

April 22, 1890. 
July 16, 1890. 








May 3, 1890. 




5 


8f months. 


No. 4 — [ Common 


Jan. 15, 1889. 


Jan. 31. 1889. 






drunkard. Able- 


April 8, 1889. 


April 10, 1889. 






bodied] Is No. 4 


May 2, 1889. 


June 10, 1889. 






of Table xviii. 


July 20, 1889. 
Oct. 11, 1889. 


July 23, 1889. 
Oct. 15, 1889. 








Jan. 18, 1890. 


Mch. 13, 1890. 


6 


12 months. 


No. 5 — [Drunk; com- 


Feb. 11. 1889. 


April 25, 1889. 






mitted.] Is No. 6 of 


May 6. 1889. 


Aug. 28, 1889. 






Table xvii. 


Sept. 5, 1889 


Sept. 5, 1889. 






Sept. 17, 1889. 


Jan. 2, 1890. 








Jan. 4, 1890 


Feb. 27, 1890. 








Mch. 1, 1890. 


April 2. lc$0. 








April 5, 1890. 


April 8, 1890. 








April 12, 1890. 


May 3, 1890. 








May 14, 1890. 


Aug. 11, 1890. 








Sept. 1, 1890. 




10 


18| months. 



16 



• 



TABLE X.— Continued. 



Number. 



Admitted. 



Total Time Covered 
Discharged. Admis- bo- 

stons. Admissions. 



No. 6 — Convicted 
more than twice last 
year. Is No. 13 of 
Table xvii. 



No. 7 — Convicted 
more than twice last 
year. Is No. 4 of 
Table xvii. 



No. 8 — Drunk and 
committed. Is No. 
16 of Table xvii. 



Feb. 16, 1889. 
Mch. 7, 1889. 
Mch. 23,1889 — 

(committed). 
May 25, 1889. 
Aug. 30,1889- 

(committed). 
Sept, 14, 1889. 
Feb. 24, 1890. 
Mch. 29, 1890. 
April 16, 1890. 
June 16, 1890. 
Aug. 15, 1890 
Nov. 8, 1890. 

April 25, 1889. 
July 9, 1889. 
Oct. 1. 1889. 
Jan. 29. 1890. 
Feb. 6, 1890. 
Feb. 8, 1 800 — 
(committed). 
-Mch. 4. 1890. 
Sept. 20, 1890. 
Oct. 11, 1890. 
Oct. 21, 1890. 
Oct. 29, 1890. 

Dec. 27, 1888. 
June 28, 1889. 
Julv 31, 1889. 
Aug. 21, 1889. 

Oct' 10, 1889. 
Dec. 26, 1889. 
Jan. 18, 1890. 
April 10, 1890. 
May 19, 1890. 
June 5, 1890. 
Aug. 20, 1890. 
Sept, 13, 1890. 
Oct. 16, 1890. 
Nov. 19. 1890. 



Mch. 4, 1889. 
Mch. 19, 1889. 
April 15, 1889. 

July 20, 1889. 
Sept, 2, 1889. 

Nov. 25. 1889. 
Mch. 18, 1890. 
April 1, 1890. 
April 17, 1890. 
June 29, 1890. 
Aug. 18, 1890. 
Nov. 10, 1890. 

July 6, 1889. 
Sept. 27, 1889. 
Dec. 13, 1889. 
Feb. 1, 1890. 
Feb. 7, 1890. 
Feb. 25, 1890. 

July 16, 1890. 
Oct. 6, 1890. 
Oct. 18. 1890. 
Oct. 23, 1890. 



Mch. 4, 1889. 
July 23, 1889. 
Aug. 3, 1889. 
Aug. 22, 1889. 
Dec. 21, 1889. 
Dec. 27, 1889. 
Mch. 18, 1890. 
April 21, 1890. 
June 2, 1890. 
June 29, 1890. 
Sept. 8, 1890. 
Oct. 7, 1890. 
Nov. 10, 1890. 



12 



22 months. 



11 



18 months. 



14 23f months. 



17 



TABLE X. — Concluded. 









Total 


Time Covered 


Number. 


Admitted. 


Discharged. 


Admis- 


by 


> • 






sions. 


Admissions. 


No. 9 — Convicted 


Nov. 24, 1888. 


April 15, 1889. 






more than twice last 


April 18, 1889. 


May 13, 1889. 






year. Is No. 15 of 
Table xvii. 


May 17, 1889. 


July 6, 1889. 






Aug. 2, 1889 — 


Aug. 31, 1889. 








(committed). 










Sept. 10, 1889. 


Nov. 20, 1889. 








Nov. 23, 1889. 


Nov. 28, 1889. 








Dec. 7, 1889. 


Mch. 24, 1890. 








May 9, 1890 — 


June 2, 1890. 








(committed). 










June 10, 1890. 


Aug. 22, 1890. 








Aug. 22, 1890— 


Oct. 10, 1890. 








(committed). 










1 Oct. 14, 1890. 




11 


22f months. 


No. 10 — Has entered 


Oct. 15, 1888. 


Jan. 18, 1889. 






drunk. Is No. 11 


Jan. 26, 1889. 


Mch. 25, 1889. 






of Table xvii. 


April 13, 1889. 
Nov. 13, 1889. 
Dec. 5, 1889. 
Feb. 22, 1890. 
April 21, 1890. 
May 17, 1890. 
June 7, 1890. 
Sept. 27, 1890. 


April 29, 1889. 
Nov. 29, 1889. 
Feb. 14, 1890. 
April 14, 1890. 
May 13, 1890. 
June 1, 1890. 
June 29, 1890. 
Nov. 4, 1890. 








Nov. 7, 1890. 




11 


24| months. 


No. 11 — Drunk and 


Nov. 24, 1888. 


Feb. 23, 1889. 






committed. Is No. 


Mch. 9, 1889. 


Mch. 25, 1889. 






12 of Table xvii. 


April 3, 1889. 
May 15, 1889. 
May 24, 1889. 
Sept. 26, 1889. 
Jan. 11, 1890. 
Jan. 16, 1890. 
Feb. 11, 1890. 
July 5, 1890. 


April 9, 1889. 
May 22, 1889. 
June 4, 18S9. 
Sept. 27, 1889. 
Jan. 14, 1890. 
Jan. 29, 1890. 
Feb. 28, 1890. 
July 14, 1890. 








Nov. 14, 1890. 




11 


23f months. 


No. 12 — Drunk and 


Dec. 19, 1888. 


Feb. 20, 1889. 






committed. Is No. 


Feb. 20, 1889. 


Mch. 28, 1889. 






10 of Table xvii. 


April 1, 1889. 
May 4, 1889. 
June 15, 1889. 
July 26, 1889. 
Sept. 5. 1889. 
Dec. 21, 1889. 
April 1, 1890. 
May 16, 1890. 


April 15, 1889. 
May 22, 1889. 
July 1, 1889. 
Aug. 12, 1889. 
Nov. 19, 1889. 
Mch. 20, 1890. 
April 21, 1890. 
June 2, 1890. 








Sept. 25, 1890. 


| 


11 


21 months. 



18 



TABLE XL — DEATH RATES FOR 20 YEARS. 

Per Thousand of Population. 





YEAR. Hartford. 


New Haven. 


The Sta:e. 


1871, 

1872, 

1873, 

1874 


12.2 

18.5 

20.3 

15.6 

15. 

24.1 

18.5 

18.4 

17. 

19.7 

23.7 

24.8 

28.3 

21. 

19.2 

19.5 


19.7 

22.3 

21.7 

18.2 

20.5 

20.4 

19.7 

18. 

16.7 

17.8 

19.1 

IS. 7 

18.4 

17.5 

17.9 

18.4 

17.4 

17.8 

17.5 

20.2 




14.2 
18. 
17.4 
17 2 


1875, 


17 


1876, 


17 •') 


1877, 

1878 


16. 

15 


1879 


15 


1880, 

1881, 

1882 


16.7 

17.4 
18.7 


1883, 

1884 

1885, 


19.1 
16.6 
17.6 


1886 


16.2 


1887 

1888, 


19.1 
19.3 


17. 
17.1 


1889 

1890, 


19.6 

21.5 


17. 






The average 
The average 


death rate fo 
death rate fo 


r the first decade 
r the second deca< 


Hartford. N< 
was, 17.9 
ie was, 21.6 


jw Ha\ 

19.5 
18.3 


en. The State. 
16.4 
17.4 



The death rates here given are computed upon estimated populations, after 
census years, for the cities of Hartford and New Haven. The death rates for 
the State are taken from the annual report of the State Board of Health, 
and, previous to 1884, were computed on the population of the previous 
census. But for 1884, and the following years, the State population was esti- 
mated, t. e. the sum of the estimate of towns, as given by the Town Clerks, 
was taken as the population of the State. 

C. A. L. 



19 



TABLE XII, 



CONVICTIONS IN THE POLICE 
COURT 



THIRTY-FIVE CASES OF PERSONS CONVICTED THREE OR 
MORE TIMES IN 1890, OF WHOM 32 PAUPERS. 

Selected from a list of 94, from the same near, of persons convicted twice or 
oftencr ; of trltich drunkenness is one. 







Offenses. 




Oi 


i !. SSES. 




Convictions. 


i 












- 




1 


z 


u 

2= 


March S, 18 '0, to March 
8,1891. 


1 


Book 36, 9 Mont lis. 


s 




*3 2E 


-= . . 

sq 


aq 


w 00 
3Q 


If 


P 


c 


D 


D 


D 


158 












2 


P 


c 


B 






82 


C 








60 








6 


3 


P 


D 


D 


c 




158 


D 


c 






90 


3 


1 


3 


5 


3 


4 


P 


C 


B 


A 




F 














2 


1 






5 


P 


D 


D 


D 


AB 


158 


B 








U 


2 










6 


P 


DA 


A 


C 


D 


183 


D 








30 


2 


1 


2 




4 


7 


P 


C 


D 






114 


D 


b 






40 


•• 


3 


4 




. , 


8 


P 


D 


C 


H 


DB 


272 












2 










9 


P 


D 


ND 


D 




119 


RA 








F 


1 


3 


1 






10 


P 


D 


BD 


DD 


BD 


232 


D 








30 










1 


11 


P 


D 


C 


V 


TV 


361 


V 


D 


V 




120 


4 




2 




. . 


12 


P 


T 


T 


D 


YD 


287 


T 








30 





3 


1 




. , 


13 


P 


C 


C 






144 


C 


c 


F 




150 


3 


2 


1 






14 


P 


C 


D 


C 




155 


D 


c 






60 


1 










15 


P 


C 


C 






93 












2 


1 








16 


P 


D 


V 


B D 


C 


237 


D 


c 


C 




180 


4 


3 


3 




2 


17 


P 


C 


D 


V 




186 


T 


D 


D 




40 












18 


P 


C 


C 


D 


C 


428 


D 


C 


C 




210 


5 


3 




8 




19 


P 


C 


V 


H 


D 


262 


H 


V 


C 




120 


3 




2 




3 


20 


P 


C 


C 


D 




156 


D 


D 


c 




75 




2 


3 






21 


P 


D 


c 


V 




168 








.. 


•■ 


1 










99 


P 


D 


D 


C 




154 


V 


c 


c 


D 


210 


2 


1 


4 




1 


23 


P 


D 


c 






158 


D 


BD 






M 


9 


1 


3 






24 


P 


D 


D 


D 




96 


C 


TDD 


. , 


. . 


180 




5 


2 


5 




25 


P? 


D 


D 






38 












. . 


4 


4 


2 


3 


26 


P 


D 


D 


B D 




F70 


D 








30 


3 




1 






27 


P 


B D 


D 


D 




112 


C 


c 






120 




i 


1 




1 


28 


P 


D 


D 


T 




108 












1 


l 


•■ 






29 


P 


D 


B 


T 




154 


B 








180 


1 


2 


1 






30 


P? 


D 


D 


D 




126 


D 


b 






50 


2 


1 


2 




2 


31 


P 


, BD 


B 


H 




180 


D 


V 


b 




120 


3 


3 


2 




2 


32 


P 


D 


D 


V 




i 80 


W 








F 


1 


1 


1 






33 




D 


T 


B 




1 66 


D 


BD 






30 




1 


1 






34 


P 


C 




.... 





60 


C 








60 


2 


1 


A 


5 


i 


35 


P 


C 




.... 


.... 


60 


C 








60 


2 


S 


r c 




l 



+ Had an alias ; hence her disappearance back. 

XB. Costs and fines, when not paid, are included in " Penalty " at 50 cents per day. 
Explanation of Signs. 

alms books except three, and two of these were 



A. Assault and batten'. 

B. Breach of the peace. 

C. Common drunkard. 

D. Drunkard. 

F. Fined, and fine paid. 

H. Common prostitute. 

rs. Xeglect to support family. 

P. Panper. [All but eight at once recosnized 
as such by Mr Stillman, Clerk of the Board of 
Selectmen. These eisht were all found in the 



doubtful. 

T. The J ft. V. Vagrant. 

W. Cruelty to animals 

X.B. The first column covers a year; the sec- 
ond only 9 months : the third 104-" months ; the 
fourth 11 months ; the fifth 9f months ; the sixth 
11 months ; the seventh one year. 

The exact times covered by the different book^ 
are given in Table V. Book 32 was not 
thoroughly examined. 



' 



X 



a© ■** t- © 



> 



5 S ~ 
= > ~ - 



- . - 

- - - 



— r> 
0» 



=: 1 



99 0» OO fc- 

c- ~ at — 

■77 b- C: -• 






□Q 1 



~ 


Oi 










f 
f 
■f 


— 


- 
-■ 
-■ 


— 
c- 
00 


77 


39 



bo co" 



< 



— x - 
o> — — 

— 



o o 

M CO 



< 1 



*-*i 



X 



r. SB - 
t- =: — 
X r* co 



_. — K - — -^ O 
x Eft — — C> -r IC 
■ _ r , :: t- 

— c> o? 


o 


- ^ -r X — t- — - 
y OB — oo t co ao t> 

, rH 09 OC XX 

- o* r oo* 


., R O ao e . x t- 

x o t- <- :: • t- ' io 

x — 0* CO . t- | CO 

- 0* c* co" 


_ X CO .-0 — X X Oi 

x — — "> — oo c- -c 

£ r-. c? co to c 

- — " 09? OO* 


e o oo co «3 « o o 
x o oo as co o? — 
x ao ot oa o — 
*~ t-T osf co" 


- X -0 — CO 0? t* 

t ~ — d ao • do as 

X ~ 77 77 — 

- OS? 08? CO" 


r — — . g ® • 
i Z • ~ - ■ 

■ - 5 '— c; — ! 

■ - Pi Eg ° fr = ■"" 

_' - - - r :~" "~" """ 7* 

g 5 g ? |S §s| 
R < £ z > §o 


BD 



Table XIV.— POLICE DEPARTMENT. 

A rivals hn Month* .#/,■/ Q<rtrt-n, /.w; is.-ts. /.v.vj, i.-t'JO (year l.njin* J< 





— -a=" =™ ;,;£;k;, — ! - 


~ T _ 1 _ 


.25. 


*™«- |sL"e: 




,887,1888 1880 16.0 .897 1888, .1 


-Hl-I-H ™ ■ ■ H-IH'H—I'H'H- 


»S7|lB»j|.8«,|. S t»|lSS.|. l ».|l.»| UH 


,« 


■ 887 |. 888 1 188. |. 8.0 ISW j IBS. 


Jianary 19 

February 9 

Mini 21 


31 


11 j 7 
14 21 


24 12 


19 


14 


200 


:|E|:!::;. : ltt:: : ; : "]:|:|:|3: 


1: 


] 


3 


;: 




24 


17 


243 


195 

192 


214 1 225 66 88 


115 116 


79 


347 
463 


411 
619 


328 
437 


244 


. . February. 
. . March. 


First Quarter... 49 46 34 37 41 


46 


51 


52 


443 402 438 524 6 5 2J| 8 1 ,3 17 542 


500 j 538, 640 1 33 j 


53 


49 070 590 j 710 812 333 259 329 320 


310 ' 1330 1 1459 


1145 1 868 


.. j FiK « Quarto, 


April 11 

May 27 

June 21 


14 

28 

" 
53 


13 18 
12 19 
16 15 


18 


21 


15 1 25 187 181 230 223 1 3 


5 2.. 1 . 12 293 


289 1 245 291 


;i::fi : :: 


13 


7 375 350 3,5 320 176 ,50 ,38 113 71 ,90 ,73 170 129 91 


.. 


May. 


Second Quarter SI 


41 52 62 81 69 03 0C4 548 870 lis! 2 S 


5 8 ,|..|24|,9,|69,,786 


831 


4,| 28 41 1 24 H | 35 


" 


25 1 841] 869 991) 


970 j 451 


407 418 367 232 


760 064 j ,35 


392 .. 


. . Second Quarter. 


Juk St 20 20 

AngMl 28 24 2J 

September 19 24 20 


30 30 32 


32 3. 260 237 22, 274 .. 9 
22 32 209 248 20S 2.72 2 2 


! 1 


2 5 . . 7 : 343 332 2S, 


33, 


" 


: : 


» !! 


13 


I 


8 403 392 
18 460 ! 394 
11 385 432 


E 


$, 


169 150 


173 
188 


93 
8S 


85' 76 
167 160 


68 
83 
99 


58 
131 


35 


70 


July. 
September. 


TbMQuarterJ 70 1 74 




88 110 753, 790 660 802 t 12 












37 ,248 1218 111,4 1222 550 5,3 487 525 307 


341 


314 


250 


276 1 . . . . Third Quarter. 


November ... 


25 20 
15 17 
22 10 


13 

17 


22| 33 19 


M U » Z\ Z\ 166 8 2 


2 2 3 2 j 6 j 7 | 220 191 | 231 


:: 


: : : 




u 


,8 3,3; 312J 304 3,9 168 125 
18 305 324 270 326 119 124 
5 ! 309] 298 21,5 289 110 137 


106 1 131 
1181 119 


79 


600 


380 


E 


E ■■ 




October. 

November. 

December. 


F"nrtliQu;,rter. 62 47 4.7 .71 84 54 


65 80 053 m 572 020 U 6 


, 7 ! 4 2 ,2 ,5 8,6 723 702 










41 1007 93, 839 901 403 386 ' 360 391 231 


1321 1118 


954 870 .. 


.. IFourtoQuartc, 


Tolalfor Year. .1242 220 190 215 316 302 


273 305 25,2|2354 2340 2039 25 3, 


22 ^2 j 25 ,1|38!73 3,20 29,9 2853 










152 3775 3611 :753 3971 1737 1565 1591 , 1609 980 


3755 3555 


3084 2426 ' .. 


. . 1 Total for Year 



23 



as 








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CO 




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CO 




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C a) -a 
























CO 


CO 


o 


CO 


__l 


CO 


CO 


GO 


tH 




OS 


Oi 


£» 


o 


CD 


o> 




0O 






CO 


tH 


co 


-*r 


CO 


CO 


CO 


Ol 


<M 


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P T5 03 




















3 


o 


OS 


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i> 


00 


J> 


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r- 


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co 


CO 


ia 


lO 


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CO 


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w 

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tea 




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a> © 
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tH 




CQ 


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y-, 








Eh 

o 


oa.S 




















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GO 


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co 


C5 


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ca 


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i_ 03 

£-= 

Eh 


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co 


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GO 


CO 


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w 




T- 1 


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1-1 


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© 03 






















0) 03 


co 


IO 


CO 


C3 


OS 


<S* 


CO 


IO 


co 




CO 


CO 


03 


CO 


CO 


CO 


<M 


05 


1-1 




© 


o 


o 


CO 


o 


oo 


CO 


^ 


00 


OS 










o 


o 


os 


OS 


o 


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J> 




& 




tH 




1—1 






tH 








H 






















© . 






















III 


CO 


<M 


IO 


00 


T-| 


IO 


IO 


co 


co 




o? 




OS 




iO 


J> 


GO 


o 


rJH 




co 


CO 


iO 


CO 


co 


CD 


CO 


£- 


i> 




^ 












































v "'- — t» 


co 


^H 


00 


^ 


■<* 


-# 


^M 


CO 


co 




-3 > c 


JO 


CO 


tH 


CD 


CO 


CO 


CO 


CD 


CO 




S.C'3 
EhO 


00 


GO 


00 


00 


00 


oo 


00 


GO 


00 




























co" 

GO 

GO 


-*" 
GO 
00 


io" 
GO 
00 


co" 

QO 
00 


00 
00 
1—1 


oo" 
oo 
oo 


OS" 
00 
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o" 

OS 
00 

T— 1 


OS 

oo 








co" 

t-i 

6 
© 

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CO 
GO 








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© 
> 

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> 
o 


os" 

6 

© 

o 

1 

00 


co" 

>' 
O 

1 

»o 

QO 
GO 


d 
1 

CO 


03 

t-s 

GO 


a 

>-s 

GO 
GO 
OO 


co" 

a 
I 

OS 


os" 

d 

03 
>-s 

1 
O 




£ 


GO 
GO 


00 


GO 


GO 
GO 


GO 

T-t 


oo 
00 


OS 
00 




Eh 








i—l 


„ 




1— 1 


T- 1 






1-T 


05 


co" 

tH 


Os" 


co" 


GQ 




io" 


go" 






t>' 


> 


© 


©" 


>" 


fcb 


>. 


d 
•-a 


xi 






o 


O 


© 


0) 


o 


d 




o 






£ 


£ 


p 


Q 


£ 


<! 


^ 


s 




o 


OS 


o 




c* 


CO 


-* 


IO 


CO 


CO 




o 

pa 


<M 


CO 


CO 


CO 


CO 


CO 


CO 


co 


CO 









© 


O 


c^ 


o 




> 




a 


W2 


o 


• PH 


o 


d 


o 


^2 






M 


<u 


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a 


d 


-i 


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C3 


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rf 



Table XVI.— INMATES OF 



ALMSHOUSE. Mabch 4th, A. D. 1891 



IOII,. 1 
DeDmnrk 
England 
Germany 
Ireland 
u»iy 



■•: ! I 5 



11,0, 
S„il/.i 1,1,0 
N..I |i,.it,,.o,.l 






PEBCENTAG] - 



FE3«L ALES. 



STATISTICS OF RESIDENCE AND AGE. 



:aijes only. 



Uo.I.i .-.,, .i 
Be „ 5 . 



ABLE XVII.— CONDENSED CLOTHING ACCOUNTS. HARTFORD ALMS! 



'■ ■■■■■ 


., 














„ 






„ ^ 


s,, „•,,,. 


li 








• s " '"-'■ "'""'•" '•■' v ' 


''""• 1 '"' 


rtaili.r 




21 


20 

2 
9 

17 


.88 

l!08 

2.08 

I.OS 

^48 

.08 

i.eo 

.40 

JO 

.72 


3 
3 

1 


$1.35 
.00 


1 

: 

- 


$9.75 


„ ,,„, , ,„ 


211 


i!oo 

$0.50 


n I 


3 

10 
3 

9 

70 

3.57 


$8 12 
10.211 

"i'M 

2>38 
10.20 


1 $2,110 

1 00 
4.00 

13 $20.00 
0.(11 $1.22 


"I 

■j 

0.01 


- 80 

so 

1 (10 




'mlll'S' «Ki'~" 


,..,,.., 


So' \!;!r !;!!!"!■!!' '!»'"' !™ u'l ,™'.' r *"''"" 
n!!. i- ai'.'i.'- i.'.'."i.'.'-.'i.' A|",i 'rC;'i.', ,, , 1 ',-. 'r;",',, - : '!,' ;"™ 

Nil..'. .Mil' -l....li.-.l. Jim . ,sv, N„v . ikiii .1 (; 12.(10 
No.O-FYb. 11. l«S!l-ll,v :l. 1*111.1 10 20.00 

n" Il-\hi! iin!ii!!i ' \!!l In !"«', i'vi. '•■'■ ]-■!!' '-' :','!" 

No. 10-Ablo- lied. .Inn 1. IS1UI April (1. I»lll.| . 11 «00 

Noll Alili-I.i.ili.d. .I.iu 1. l-l'ii Apnl 1.:. Ism 5 in.ilii 
No IS .M.I. -I....II..I. I,., 1 ' Ism. «.,, ii iv, 1 | ... | („, 

No l.'.-.luli 1. IB'.ili-Apiil s. Ism.; J 8 o0 

Ho. 10- AbUiluidii.il. Jan 18. 1800-Apr. 28. 1801.) . . 12.0.0 


i 


$7.(10 

;;!.!!!! 

7 00 
3.00 
0.00 

18.00 
3.00 

"i'llO 
7.00 

1200 



\ 



$4.00 
1 mi 
8.00 

o:oo 

8.00 
2.00 
1.00 

i!oo 
' i.oo 

3.00 


13 
8 

17 
1 

10 
8 


$3.50 
3 00 

II 50 
4.00 

4.00 

1 50 
.50 

8.00 
2.50 

2^50 
6.60 


11 
17 

J 

7 
12 


s'.'.ll 

ts 

2IIO 
3 on 
1.00 
3.50 

01, 


9 




13 

8 
17 

1 
140 


ikiii 
0.511 
11 5(1 
5.00 
4.00 

200 
.50 

2>>0 

100 
3.00 

$73.00 


17 

'■..!"'"» 

* .III 25'>|Ioos. 


[53.40 

,',:, nil 
05, III 
08 10 
00.06 

110 so 

27 19 
r 58 
80.80 

(8 SO 
18.80 

i , no 
18 lo 
1,1,6 

III. .',7 


$28 .-,n 

(III III! 

10 60 

LSI 

81 (is 

111.611 

11 III! 

u 12 
'," m 

Kills 
17011 
58 89 

18.24 




58 


$180.00 


60 


$50.00 


127 , $08.00 


131 


$04.00 


204 


$10.32 


18 


~s III 


$87,114 






91 510 .ill 




Average per capita— reduced loono year 1 3.9' $7.80 2.73 


$8.40 


2.30 


$2.35 


5.0.5 $2.08 


II 1(1 


$3 08 


9.511 


$.77 




*.» 


4 2, 


$2.14 


1.22 


,:„ 


$3. 43 


$117.95 



TABLE XVIII.— MATERIAL ALONE. 





a™... 


- 


4, 


*.».» .™.,™. 


w.,„. 


W„.,,„. 


■ , ;::,'. 1 :::.r 


:,:'.,:;.'. 








'-'- » '■ '■- 


'■ « 


Co.,. 


- 


$ .64 

.54 


«-« 


« ■ cwo 


Nome.,. | e»t 


■v ,., Co., 


,•„„. 


'" 


No l-Al.lil.nilii-il. F.-l. 15. I.ss.j S,.|.l III. 1X110. • 

No i - Al.l. I...I. .Mm .', I-Si, \... si. I.-..UI | 

Ni. :l M.I, l....l„,l A,,, 2!i. l-so m.„ •.■.,. i.v.ii : 


2 .'ill. 


3 
3 


$ .00 

.20 
.00 
.80 


'i 


$'!20 


5 


$7 50 
3 mi 


.' 


$0.00 

2.00 
8.00 


■* 


*' '-"' 5 * M 
4.50 7 ss 
76 5 03 


1 


$ .40 


I , 1 

1 1.00 

1 1.00 

2 , 2.00 I 


$2.00 

1 50 
.5(1 




18 

no , 


$21.10 
1 15 
17 112 
10.78 

$60.71 


$!» no 

1 IIS 

10 ," 
is on 




8 $14.1 
1.0 $ .288 


2.2 


$2.20 
$44 


1 


$ .05 


11 


$10.60 
$8.80 


8 


$10.00 


3 


$(.0S 


10 


$750 hi $a. so 


> 


$ .40 

V IIS 


$5.00 8 


$1.00 








Ai-i .■■. ..|.iiu ,..,l,i, ,,l or i,-,ir 


.25 




1.6 


$3.20 


.0 


$ .32 


-' 


$1.50 3 s $ .(76 


.2 


1 $1.00 1.0 


$.80 






$ll 40 













































ADMISSIONS OF TOWN PATIENTS TO THE CITY HOSPITAL, HARTFORD, AND COST OF THEIR TREATMENT. 



July 



ima 


ISM 


is;, 


,„;., 


1810 


is:; 


1878 


18,0 


, 88 „ 


,88. 


,-,, 


,88. 


,88, 


, 885 





,,„ 


,88* 


,.,. 






..» 




12 


21 






2. 


S7 


28 


34 


25 


m 


30 




38 


85 


80 


IIS 


32 








13 


Ill 


27 


13 


„ 


14 


211 


20 


19 


21 


93 


81 


111 


30 


88 




40 


28 


89 


80 


31 


117 


$,102 1,1 


slsi 


III 


12 


11 


28 


23 


17 


10 


22 


28 


80 


31 


1,2 




34 


30 


21 


88 


28 


III! 







17 


8 





99 


2.S 




22 


211 


10 


35 


88 


87 




113 


25 


34 


38 


43 


48 







16 


20 


16 


10 


90 


211 


34 


31 


39 


39 


11 


42 


111, 


30 


80 


41 


34 


34 


45 


628 08 


766.84 


IS 


10 


22 


17 


21 


20 


22 


93 


34 


23 


82 


80 


211 


42 


27 


82 


24 


84 


III 







11 


10 


M 


21 


IS 


83 


111, 


94 


SO 


40 


88 


1,4 


80 


33 


so 


38 


30 


41 


33 






10 


13 


13 


28 


21 


87 


87 


33 


98 


25 


30 


42 


SI 


34 


85 


36 


so 


42 


10 


77.S 36 


791 71 


II 


18 


16 


16 


89 


29 


84 


20 


47 


39 


87 


23 


IIS 


98 


44 


11 


27 


29 


111 






14 


11 


10 


90 


99 


33 


115 


113 


211 


III 


111 


40 


III, 


29 


31 


80 


20 


12 


37 






o 


98 


94 


20 


11 


:;., 


90 


98 


29 


18 


17 


10 


(II, 


23 


29 


III 


31 


29 


86 


701.49 


Ts 1 19 


K. 


" 


. 


" 


mi 


17 


2(1 


21 


29 


2d 


21 


30 


4„ 


28 


29 


31 


_!!_ 


86 


89 






,52 


,7, 


187 


990 


279 


8,0 


856 


3IS 


808 


B07 


30, 


,07 


873 


386 


885 


422 


878 


138 


108 $9,»70.80 


$11. ,20.(111 



11.15 SO 1,2115 7 



9,980.37 J.383.52 






■88, 


l 88 ! 


.88. 


,88, 


,886 














$2,2,19,17 


$2,117 5S 


$2,26.60 


$2.0119 5, 


$3,046.17 


$2,1112 18 


1.888 7S 


2,110.67 


2,070.42 


3.116.49 


2. 000.51 

' 


3,478.30 





1,920.42 


2,189.12 


3,270.59 




1.617.08 






1.775.19 


1,788.01 


,135:63 


1.859.01 




$8,178.01 


$7.92386 


$1.223. 1 1 


$8,563.25 


$7,623.10 $9,202 79 



issr, ls,T 


,88. 





$8,859.60 [1.011 11 


,ii , 




" 1 160 19 


2,011 75 


1,0 1.11 







, - '.,,„ 


1,826.57 3,404.89 


1,66, III 


1 



' 



27 

TABLE XX. — STATEMENT BY THE SELECT- 
MAN'S OFFICE OF AMOUNTS PAID 
TO GROCERS. 

From January 1, 1890, to January 1, 1S91. 



Number. 


Ward. 


Amount Paid. 


Meat. 


Liquor. 


Politics. 


1 


1 
2 
2 
5 
1 
7 
6 
2 
4 
6 
3 
4 
5 
3 
5 
6 
6 
3 
6 
8 
4 
4 
7 
2 
1 
4 
1 
1 
8 
5 
5 
2 
7 
6 
2 
2 
2 
3 
7 
2 

5 


$1,145 19 

1,123.00 

755.50 

719.00 

681.50 

611.50 

522.50 

346.00 

344.00 

327.00 

298.50 

293.50 

290.00 

282.50 

229.00 

191.32 

184.00 

180.50 

180.00 

157.50 

156.00 

154.00 

151.00 

146.50 

114.00 

94.00 

65.00 

52.00 

51.00 

33.00 

420.00 

421.20 

55.00 

235.00 

98.00 

78.00 

100.50 

87.00 

26.00 

83.33 

42.00 






R 


2 






It 


3 

4 


""k 

M 


t 


D 
R 


5 




R 


6 




R 


7 




t 


D 


oo a: 


M 


D 
R 


10 
11 
12 
13 


M 
M 
M 


t 

t 

..... 


D 
D 
R 
D 


14 




D 


15 




t 


D 


16 




D 


17 




t 


D 


18 




R 


19 




+ 


D 


20 


M 


R 


21 




R 


22 
23 


M 

M 


t 


D 
D 


24 




R 


25 






R 


26 


M 
M 
M 

M 




D 


27 




D 


28 






29 
30 


........ 

t 
t 


D 
D 


31 
32 


M 


D 
D 


33 




R 


34 




+ 
t 


D 


35 




D 


36 




R 


37 


M 




R 


38 


t 
t 


D 


39 




R 


40 




R 


41 




t 


D 


42 






43 
44 


6 


103.50 
261.00 


M 




D 













D indicates Democrat; R, Republican. 

t. The dagger indicates that the same party sells liquor also, 
however, this business must be formally separated from the other. 
M indicates that meat is sold. 



According to the present law, 



APPENDIX A, 



PRESENT LAWS CONCERNING SUPPORT AND RELIEF 
OF POOR, AND CONCERNING LEGAL SETTLEMENT, 
TOGETHER WITH SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT 
JUDICIAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE SAME. 



The selectmen are bound to furnish necessary support or relief to sees. 3295 and 
all persons needing the same whether they be foreigners or natives, 
citizens of this state, or of other states, or territories. Their duty is 
enforced in a civil suit, in the case of all except "inhabitants of the 
town," by a penalty of $7.00. Any person may sue any one of the sec. 3304. 
selectmen for the same. 

For relief or support, given in the case of those who have no legal 
"settlement" in the town where they come to want, the town may 
be reimbursed (1) by the town in this state where the assisted persons (i) sec. 3304. 
belong.* (2) by the state, through the comptroller, if they have no (2) Sec. 3311 
settlement in any town — the former for an indefinite period, but on a 
fixed scale, viz. : $1.50 per week up to 6 years of age ; $2.00 from 6 to 
14; $3.00overJ4. Thelatter for the space of six months and no more. 
At the expiration of six months the town itself becomes responsible. 
And in any event the state has no responsibility after the person has Sec. 3315. 
been six months within its borders. 

The above provisions hold in the case of persons committed to sec. 3313. 
jail or work-house. On their discharge, the town where they have 
their settlement is responsible. Jf they have no settlement any- 
where, the town where they last resided, or from which they were 
committed is responsible, after the state has discharged its liability. 

Settlement. 

In respect to legal settlement, the Connecticut law divides persons 
into three categories: (1) Persons from foreign countries; (2) In- 
habitants of other states or territories of the United States ; (3) In- 
habitants of Connecticut. 

A settlement can be gained by a member of any of these classes 
in either of the two following methods : (a) By a vote of the inhabit- 



For meaning of this word, see page 31. 



30 

ants of the town.* (b) By the consent of a board consisting of the 
justices of the peace and the selectmen of the town, convened for the 
purpose f — subject, however, in the case of inhabitants of other states 
or territories in the United States, to the condition of one year's resi- 
dence. (Sec. 3,287.) 

Apart from these two methods, the three classes above named may 
secure settlement as follows : 

I. Foreigners. By naturalization]; and by residing thereafter four 
years consecutively in the town and not being chargeable to the town 
during that period. 
Sec. 3287. J I. Persons from any other state or territory of the United States. 

By residing in the town one year and being possessed in their own 
right, in fee, of unencumbered real estate, situated in this state, of the 
value of $334, and, if the title thereto shall be by deed, such deed 
shall have been recorded one year. 
><er. 111. Persons from another town in this state. By four years con- 

tinuous residence during which they shall have maintained themselves 
and family and shall not have become chargeable to the town. 
Sec. 3289; 3290. There is no explicit provision concerning the settlement of women. 
But they are assumed to be capable of obtaining one. If married, 
they take the settlement of their husband, if he have one. If single, or 
widows, they secure one by residence — presumably as the man does. 
Just how this would leave foreign-born women, since the decisions of 
1880 and 1838 later referred to, we shall not presume to say. 

Minor children take the settlement of their father — or of their 
Sec. 32S9. mother, if the father be dead. If the husband and father die before 
the completion of his term of settlement the term of the widow and 
children begins with that of their deceased relative. Illegitimate 
children follow the settlement of their mother. Children born in 
Sec. 3291. benevolent institutions, alms-houses, or hospitals, while their mothers 
are beneficiaries therein, are not by this alone possessed of settlement 
in the place of their birth. 

Legal Settlement — How Prevented. 

The town can prevent the legal settlement of undesirable persons 
as follows : 

I. Persons from foreign countries or from other states or territories in 
the United States. 



* Hartford adopted a regulation to this effect in 1659, v. p. 44. anticipating thus, as it seems, 
the passage of any colonial law on the subject. She acted under this rule in 1660 and subse- 
quently: v. p. 44. But her rale and the state law seem to have been now long in abeyance. 

+ This, too, is in practical disuse. 

J Such seems to be the present status; but see page 32. Effect of naturalization on Settlement- 



31 

If Ihey, or any member of their family, become chargeable during Sec. 3392. 
the first year of their residence, the selectmen may at any time during 
the year apply to any justice of the peace in the town and the latter 
must thereupon issue a warrant to any constable of the town and such 
constalVle must thereupon transport the person to the place in the ad- 
joining state* from whence he came to this state, or to the place of 
his former residence. 

IT. Persons having a settlement in some other town in this state. 

Any time within four years if they, or any member of their family Sec. 3293. 
become chargeable, notice must be given to the town in question to 
remove them and their families, and on their failure to remove them, 
removal is effected as above in the case of the foreigner. 

Paupers Brought into a Town. 
Paupers brought into a town must be removed on demand of the Sec. 3294. 
selectmen to the place from whence they were brought. On neglect 3Conn '' ' 4 ' 3 ' 
or refusal by the person who brought them, a fine of $70 is inflicted ; 
if the bringing were "with intent," the fine shall be $100 and all 
expense of maintaining the paupers. 

Lost Settlement. 
In the case of Town of Middletown v. Town of Lyme it was decided 5 Conn., p. 95. 
that a person who obtains a residence in another state loses his settle- v. 

ment in this and on returning can regain it only on the footing of a 
person from another state. But Section 3308 of the general statutes 
changes this. It determines that that town is responsible for the re- 
turned pauper in which he had his settlement before he left the state 
— unless, of course, he have since his return formally obtained a settle- 
ment in some other town. 

Where Does a Person "Belong." 
"The word belong, when used in our public and private statutes, 19 Conn., 564. 

, .-,,-, -, . p .,,. . T'wn of Read'g 

and especially when used in reference to inhabitancy, the poor, etc., v. 

has been uniformly understood and construed to designate the place Westport. 
of a person's legal settlement and not merely his place of residence." 

What Constitutes a " Poor Person." 
In Stewart v. Sherman the lower court had decided that "It is not 4 Conn., 5.%. 
necessary, to constitute a pauper, that he should be absolutely desti- 
tute of property ; he must be poor and in necessitous circumstances." 
This was overruled by the supreme court. The latter decided that 
" Until the exhaustion of the fund " — a note for $96, of the very exist- 



* i. e. over the border. 



32 

ence of which the owner was ignorant — ii Wright cannot be considered 
a pauper, and of consequence there was no obligation on the town to 
furnish him a maintenance."* 
8 Conn., p. 395. In East Hartford v. Pitkin the Court used this language: ' ; Itis 
alleged that she "' — the pauper in question — •• was poor, destitute, and 
in need of the necessaries of life and that she had no relations of suf- 
ficient ability to support her. These averments are quite sufficient.*' 

Effect of Naturalization ox Settlement. 

The present law, as above summarized. f is substantially the old 
law. It seems to forbid foreigners obtaining a settlement except by 
vote of the Town or of the Board of Justices and Selectmen, and was 
probably so understood. In 1875 the law was amended so as to pro- 
vide that every citizen of the United States may obtain a legal settle- 
ment here by residing four consecutive years without being charge- 
able, and that every person not a citizen wLo shall reside five years 
consecutively in any town in this State, maintaining himself and 
family, shall gain a settlement therein. In 187S this law was re- 
pealed, and it was provided that every person who shall have resided 
in any town four yeais from August 20, L875, may gain a settlement 
therein. In 1879 this was repealed, in its turn, so far as relates to 
foreigners, and as to them the old law was reinstated, and thus it 
stands now. 

But two judicial decisions in our Supreme Court give it a 
practical interpretation, as follows: In the Town of Vernon v. tfa 

53 Conn., p. 390. Town of Ellington it was decided that after naturalization one be- 
comes an ••inhabitant." and so is competent to obtain a settlement — 
but, apparently, not in the town in which naturalization was effected. 
One became an inhabitant there by virtue of his naturalization, and 
on removing to another town in the State, might obtain a settlement 
there bv four years consecutive and self-supporting residence, as com- 
ing from another town in this State. 

56 conn., p. 465. In 1888. in the case of Guilford v. New Haven, another step in inter- 
pretation was taken, and, since then, it seems to be the law that the 
naturalized person obtains a settlement in the town where he was 
naturalized, after four years' consecutive and self-supporting residence 
subsequent to naturalization. This interpretation seems to place a citi- 



* WaUinglord >:. Southington. 16 Conn., 435, does not seem to be against this. Peters t. 
Litchfield, 34 Conn.. 265, decided in 1S6T. re-affirms with absolute distinctness the position of the 
court ii. Sherman. Fish v. Perkins, 52 Conn., 204, decided in 1884, is similar to Wdr 

lingfcrd v. Southington. The question is whether the property is sufficient for necessary sup 
port. This is a question of fact. 

tP. 30. 



33 

zen of another State in the United States at a disadvantage as com- 
pared with a citizen of a foreign country. A. B. is born in Massachu- 
setts and removes to Connecticut. On the same day his neighbor, 
C. D., who is within one month of naturalization, removes also to Con- 
necticut. Both are industrious, but without property. In four years 
and one month C. D. (the foreigner) obtains a settlement and can 
claim support. In one year A. B. (the Massachusetts man) may 
obtain a settlement — but only on condition that he shall "have 
been possessed in his own right in fee, of unencumbered real 
estate, situated in this state of the value of $334, and if the title sec. 3287. 
thereto shall be by deed, such deed shall have been recorded one 
year." But by the very terms of the proposition A. B. is poor, 
so he can never obtain settlement ; while Ins neighbor, the foreign- 
born citizen, gets it in four years and one month. 

Of course, either might be voted in. Though here again the 
Massachusetts man seems to be at a disadvantage, for he must reside 
a year and be voted in, while no term of residence is fixed in Sec. 3285 
for the foreigner, and therefore he can be voted in whenever he ceases 
to be a foreigner — i. e. in one month. But that is never done now. 
And if it were to be proposed in the case of A. B. he would almost 
surely be rejected if he were already, or seemed likely to become, a 
burden to the town. Practically, it is true, this is of no great conse- 
quence, since the town is obliged to look after both of them indiffer- 
ently if they come to need. 



II. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAW RELATING TO THE POOR 
AND TO PAUPER SETTLEMENT IN C NN ZiTlCUT. 



1635 



1646 

1650 



First settlements on the Conn- iver at Hartford, TTindsor, 

and Wethersfield. 

Constitution adopted: the "General Court" made the Sc :eme 
Power of the Common* 

- General Court : _ r Ludlow to compile a body of 

laws. 

He makes his compilation. From this we take the following:* 
:650. • No master of a Familye shall give intertainement or habitation 

p " IBa- to any younge man to sojoume in his fa: .nee 

:ere - of the inhabitants of the Towne where hee dwells, under the pe: 
of 20 s. pr. weeke."' 
reettiement rdered by this Courte and authority thereof, that the 

Courte of magistrates shall have power to determine all differences 
:>ut lawful setling and providing for poore persons, and shall have 
power to c h Towne- - 

shall judge to bee m : :»r the maintenance and imployment of 

such persons and familyes for of the Count: 

1662 :.stitution of 1639 _ ted by charter of '_ m U, but old 

laws declar -ill in force except where they the 

tenor of our Char 
1665 Union of colon:-- Haven and Hartford : and laws of Con- 

necticut adopted by New Haven. 
1671. New revision made. 

Laws of 1673. New revision printed at Cambria. the only print- 

p ' ° ing presst in America was. Following . st mention of the 

Responsibility poor : '• It is ordered by the authority of this Court that every Town 
within this Colony shall maintaine their own poor.' 1 

•He that abides 3 months in a Town without being warned out" 1 
>le nthe order of magistrate or selectmen) •• shall be 
their proper charge." 



>1 towns. 



* Fro- the : : ; • is Ek •'. Becords, Tol. I. 

t In 1655. the Cc '. Haven had ordered her laws " compiled fit to be printed." and 

had sent them to England for printing. In 1656. fire hundred copies had arriTed. In Connec- 
ticut, previous to 1 " rd by the Constable who read them from manu- 
script at town-mee:::. 






35 

The selectmen are further given power, "with advice of the next Binding out. 
Magistrate," to "place out neglected children into good families." 

u Be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Representatives, in Laws of 1715, 
General Court Assembled, and by the Authority of the same, that The poor, 
each Towne within this Colony shall maintain their own Poor. And 
the Select-men or Overseers of the Poor (where any such are chosen) 
shall have power to disburse or expend what they shall judge meet 
from time to time for the relief and supply of any of the Poor belong- 
ing to their Town so far as Five Pounds will extend ; and if more be 
needful .... shall, with the advice of the Assistants * or Jus- p OW erof 
tices of the Peace of that Town, distribute what shall be by them selectmen * 
judged needful for the relief of the Poor as aforesaid." 

And if there is no Justice of the Peace in the town the selectmen p age 96. 
can act alone " for the supplying their Poor, or any of them with 
Victuals, Cloathing, Fire-wood or any other thing necessary for their 
support or assistance." 

The selectmen are further authorized to bind out idle children of 
persons relieved by the town. 

The marginal note of another section indicates its provisions, as 
follows: "Persons abiding three months in a town without being Time limit, 3 
warned out, to be provided for in want by the town." If warningj- mo ^ 
has been given, " the court of assistants may otherwise order the de- 
fraying of the charge." 

"Selectmen shall procure such a number of arms and so much Arms f or p oori 
ammunition as shall be made to appear to the chief commission officers p * 80 ' 
of each company of the several towns to be needful for the supply of 
such poor as by law they are to provide for." 

In case of infectious disease, the Selectmen are to " remove to sepa- sickness, p. 160. 
rate Houses and provide Nurses, Tendance, or other Assistance or neces- 
saries fur them, at the charge of the persons, their Parents or Masters," J 
if able, or otherwise at the charge of the town where they belong. If 
the sick person be from another town, the county court is to adjust 
the "accompts of sd charge." And, "if such indigent persons are 
Inhabitants or belonging to any Town or place within this Colony," 
then the charges are to be paid out of the treasury of the colony. 

No person is to be received as an Inhabitant save those of an inhabitants, p. 
" honest conversation." No "transient person" is to be allowed to 
reside upon pretense of hiring, etc., without approbation of the select- 
men. 



* Much like our Senators, but having magisterial power. 
t See below, p. 36. 

% This covers the case of indentured apprentices and of bond-servants. Slavery was not 
abolished in Connecticut until 1818. 



36 

Xo person is to entertain or let a house to any stranger without 
giving good security to the selectmen that the town or plantation 
''shall not be burdened." 

warning to de- No "Transient Person" is to make his abode in any "town or 
par ,p. . pi an t a tion within this government," under penalty of twenty shillings, 
for the use of the poor, for each week after warning has been given 
to depart by order of the selectmen ; any one assistant or justice of 
the peace to hear and determine the same. In default of estate to pay 
the fine, the person to be u Whip'd upon the naked Body, not exceed- 
ing Ten Stripes." 

increase of time Persons not prosecuted for staving after Warning, may, after one 

limit, to one . • • n 

year, p. 250. year, continue without prosecution. 
Prevention of The selectmen are to examine the affairs and management of all 

2i3. ' " 'poor or idle persons, and if they find them '-reduced or likely to be 
Reduced by Idleness or bad Husbandry unto Want," they may take care 
of them and their families, " disposing them to service " ; and be 
virtually the conservators of all their goods and property — but they 
may not sell their land without the power of the assembly. 
Responsibility Idiots, insane, aged, poor, and impotent, unable to support them- 

Laws of moj selves and having no estate, must be supported by relatives in the 

un er , ,pp. ^-^^ ^ ne ^ ]j RC ]^ t grandparents, forward to grandchildren, if able. If 
these lack ability the " Selectmen or Overseers of the Poor of the Town 
or peculiar where such person was Born, or is by Law an Inhabitant, 
are required to make provision for their relief ... at the charge 
of the Town or Place where they of right belong" . . . or "if 
they belong to no Town or Place in this Colony, then at the Cost and 
Charge of the Colony." They may also sell, by order of the court, 
such estates as the persons may have for their support; and further 
may set them to work. 
Limit of Expen- The selectmen or overseers of the poor may spend not to exceed 
five pounds for the relief of the poor belonging to their town. If 
more be needed they may spend more, with the advice of the authority 
of the town. If there be no civil authority in the town they may use 
their own discretion. Neglected children may be apprenticed. Per- 
sons abiding three months without being warned out are to be sup- 
ported in case of need. 
Qualifications Honest conversation and acceptance by the majority of the inhabit- 

ants or by the authority and selectmen of the town are made necessary 
to admission as an inhabitant of any town. 

Any person entertaining, hiring, or letting property to any stran- 
ger or transient person without giving security to the town that it 
shall not be burdened or charged is to be fined 10 5. per week. 



diuires, p. 190. 



for Admis- 
sion, p. 



37 

The selectmen may give warning to such strangers or transients Warning, 
to depart, requesting, if necessary, a warrant therefor from the 
authority, directed to the constable. 

And the r - civil authority may order any vagrant, or suspected or 
transient person to be sent back from constable to constable to the 
town, Place, or Places from which they came." And if they "shall 
return" — after such sending back preceded by warning — "they 
shall be Whipt on the naked Body, not exceeding Ten Stripes, and again Penalty for r« 
be sent ... as often as there shall be occasion."* 

The act for the admission of inhabitants is cast much in the form Laws of 1784, 

• • t n .- p. 102 et seq. 

and spirit of the present. No person from another State is to gam 
settlement by mere residence. He may be admitted by a major vote 
of the inhabitants; or by "the civil authority in and selectmen of" 
the town; or by reason of his exercising some public office; or of 
owning real estate in fee of the value of one hundred pounds in the 
town. Removal may be effected at any time before settlement has 
been gained. And the obnoxious provision of Charles II is intro- 
duced — if they are "judged likely to become chargeable" they may 
be removed. Further, the contemporary English provision concern- 
ing certificate of settlement for the prevention of removal, is intro- 
duced, f Former provisions as to warning, and whipping on return, 
are retained. 

The three-fold discrimination of our present laws now appears with Law? of 1808, 
distinctness. (1) Persons not inhabitants of this or some other 
of the United States are to be admitted to legal settlement only on 
vote of the inhabitants, or consent of the civil authority and selectmen, 
or on holding a public office. (2) Inhabitants of other States may 
gain it in any of the foregoing ways, or by owning real property worth 
$334. (3) Inhabitants of other towns in this state gain it by vote, 
consent, office, real estate worth $100, or by six years' continuous self- 
supporting residence. Persons from other States may be removed 
any time before they gain a settlement on their being judged by the 
selectmen likely to become chargeable. Persons from other towns 
may be removed any time during six years, if they or any member of 
their family become chargeable. Certificating is dropped, but warn- 
ing, and whipping for return, retained. 

The selectmen may spend up to $17 for the poor; or, with the ad- Title cxxx, 
vice of the authority of the town, " what shall be by them judged 
needful" — otherwise the former provisions for local support are 
reproduced. 



* Compare p. 42. "No bodily Punishment shall be inflicted on any Person that is inhu- 
man, barbarous, or cruel " ! 

1 This is the first revision subsequent to the Revolution, and it is curious to observe how 
unbroken is the current of English legal tradition and influence. 



38 

Laws of 1821, Several new provisions relating to the care of the poor come in. 
The chief are : (1) Paupers shall be liable to be removed for support 
to such places + as the town or selectmen may direct: (2) notice to 
other towns, and limited responsibility after notice — SI per week — 
for paupers belonging to the latter: (3) the selectmen are to forfer 

p. 371. in a civil suit for neglect of the poor; (4) the state reimburses the 

town, under certain conditions, for the care of persons not inhabit- 
ants of the State. Provisions for settlement and removal are sub- 
stantially as in 1808. Section 7 is our present section 3308. Persons 
who return to this State after gaining a settlement in another shall 
resume their former settlement until they have gained a new one. 

First Poor- The first explicit provision for asylums or poorhousesf appears. 

lums for poor" The several towns, respectively, or any two or more of them, may 
establish such houses, and make by-laws for their regulation. 

Laws of 183 Settlement, removal, and provision for the poor are essentiallv as 

Whipping abol . 

iahed. before. But non-payment of taxes ceases to be a cause for removal, 

and whipping for return, after warning out, is abolished. The re- 
sponsibility of the State for the care of the poor is further defined 
and limited. 
Laws of isto. Every citizen of the United States may obtain settlement by four 

s. and" 1 Foreign- years' continuous, self supporting residence ; and any person not a 
citizen may obtain it by five years' such residence. Before this no 
foreigner could obtain settlement here by residence (Commorancy). 

Laws oi The preceding was repealed, and it was provided that self support- 

ing residence in any town four years, from August 20, 1875, shall 
secure settlement therein. 

Law8ofi879. So much of the foregoing as related to foreigners was repealed. 

No settlement . ° ° . . , 

hvcomniorancvand since then, as previous to 1875. no foreigner can obtain settle- 

for foreigners. , . _ . _ , _ . .... 

ment by residence alone. For the effect of naturalization, however, 



see Present Laws of Settlement, Appendix, p. 32. 

Inmates of an Almshouse can not g; 
School-district in which the building is s 
registration they had when they entered. 



Laws of 1S88. Inmates of an Almshouse can not gain a voting residence in the 

*_j169 , 

Voting." School-district in which the building is situated : i. e., they retain the 



* These are elsewhere entitled Almshouses — their first explicit mention in oar Statutes. 
In 1813 the institution makes its first appearance with the name of Asylums for the poor. The 
English workhouse has long been, what it is now, a combination of almshouse and workhouse. 
And there were establishments of that composite character in this State at least as early as 
1S15. Mr. Hoadly has shown us a copy of the "Rules and By-Laws for the Almshouse and 
House of Employment'* at Middletown in 1S15. And on the same page is the title, M A By-Law 
Constituting a part of the Middletown Asylum for the Poor, a Workhouse." Silas Deane, 
writing from Philadelphia in 1774, describes with great enthusiasm his visit to the " Bettering 
House'* there. And a private act seems to have been passed by our Legislature at about that 
time allowing the erection of an institution somewhere in this State under the same name. 
For Mr. Deane's letter see Conn. Historical Sx'y. CoV'n., Vol. 2, p. 177. 



III. 

DEVELOPMENT OF CONNECTICUT LAWS IN THE MATTER 
OF ILLITERACY, IDLENESS, VAGRANCY, DRUNKEN- 
NESS, AND THE LIKE. 



" The selectmen f shall have a vigilant eye over their brethren and Laws of 1650.* 

' ° ■* Barbarism in 

neighbours to see first that none of them shall suffer so much Bar- Families, p. 

521. 

barisme in anye of their family es as not to indeavor to teach by them- 
selves, or others, theire children and apprentices so much Learning as 
may enable them perfectly to reade the Inglish tounge." 

And the selectmen are empowered to take "rude and stubborne 
children and servants from masters of families negligent of their duty 
and place them with masters — boys until they are 21, and girls until 
they are 18." 

"Everv constable within our jurisdiction shall henceforth have f ull Drunkenness 

d and vagrancy, 

power ... to apprehend without warrant such as are overtaken p. 522. 
with drink, swearing, Sabbath-breaking, slighting of the ordinances, 
lying, vagrant persons, night-walkers . . . and those to appre- 
hend and keepe in safe custody till opportunity serves to bring them 
before one" of the next magistrates J for further examination." 

"It is ordered . . . that no person, householder or other, idleness, p. 528. 
shall spend his time idly or vnprofStably under pain of such punish- 
ment as the Courte shall think need to inflict." 

" No person licensed, for common interteinement shall suffer any to Excessive 
bee drunken or drink excessively, viz. : above halfe a pinte of wyne 533-4. 1 B1 
for one person at one time, or to continue tipling above the space of 
halfe an houre, or at vnseasonable times, or after nine of the clock at 
night." . . . "And every person found, drunken, viz.: so that 
hee bee thereby bereaved or disabled in the vse of his vnderstand- 
ing, appearing in his speech or gesture . . . shall forfeit 10 shil- 
lings ; and for excessive drinking, 3 s. 4 d., and for continuing above 
half an houre tipling, 2/6, and for tipling at vnreasonable times, or 
after 9 o'clock at night, five s. for every offence in these perticulars, 
being lawfully convicted thereof ; and for want of payment, such shall 
bee imprisoned until they pay, or bee set to the stocks one houre or 



* Citations are from Hoadly's Colonial Records, Vol. I. 

+ These are variously entitled in the old records and laws, " Able and discreet men" 
" Tovvne's men " ; " Select persons," and finally " Selectmen.'" 
% The Next magistrate was the most convenient one. 



40 

more, in some open place, as the weather will permitt not exceeding 3 
honres at one time. . . . And it is also ordered that if any per- 
son offend in drunkenness, excessive or long drinking, the second 
time they shall paye double fynes ; And if they fall into the same 
offence the third time, they shall paye treble fynes ; And if the parties 
bee not able to paye their fynes, then hee that is found drunke shall 
bee punished by whipping to the number of 10 strypes, and he that 
offends by excessive or long drinking, shall bee put into the stocks for 
3 houres, when the weather may not hazzard his life or limbs : And 
if they offend the fourth time they shall bee imprisoned vntill they 
put in two sufficient sureties for their good behaviour." 

LO p. ?! 55 f () Suff^age, "If an y person within these Liberties have beene or shall bee 
fyned or whipped for any scandalous offence, hee shall not bee ad- . 
mitted after such time to have any voate in Towne or Common wealth, 
nor to Serve on the Jury untill the Courte shall manifest theire satis- 
faction. 

La o7o S °L m5 ' p - In Hartford, or in her default in New Haven, or in hers in New 

343. (Same as ' ' 

1702.) London, at charge of this Colony, a fit and convenient House or 

Houses of Correction, "to be used and imployed for the keeping, cor- 
rection^ C Qf! rectm K anc * setting to work of Rogues, Vagabonds, Common Boggers, 
fenders. an( j other Lewd. Idle, Dissolute and Disorderly Persons " : The County 

Court of said County is to direct the Building of the same, and to ap- 
By whom com-p i n t a fit master. Said Court, or any Court in this Colony, or any 2 
Justices of the Peace, Quorum Unus, * or an Assistant and Justice of 
the Peace to "send and commit unto the Said House, to be kept and 
governed according to the Rules and Orders thereof all Rogues, Vaga- 
bonds, Idle, Dissolute Persons, going about in Town or County Begg- 
ing, or Persons using any Subtil Craft, Jugling, or unlawful games or 
Playes ; or feigning themselves to have knowledge in Physiognomy, 
Palmestry ; or pretending they can tell Destinies, Fortunes, or Dis- 
cover where Lost and Stolen Goods may be found ; Common Pipers, 
Fidlers, Run- A ways, Stubborn Servants or Children, Common 
Drunkards, Common Night Walkers, Pilferers, Wanton or Lascivious 
Persons, either in Speech or Behaviour, Common Railers and Brawlers, 
such as neglect their Callings, Misspend what they Earn and do not 
Provide for themselves or the Support of their Families ; Upon due 
consideration of any of the offences or Disorders aforesaid ; as also 
insane included. Persons under Distraction and unfit to go at Large whose Friends do 
Term of confine- not take care for their confinement." These the Master "shall set to 
Work and Labour" for such times as they shall be ordered to remain 



*The Quorum Unus \x&s a superior kind of Justice of the Peace, who acted as assessor 
with the Judge of the County Court. The Law required one Judge and two Justices, and 
these were indicated at the head of the list as competent to serve in this capacity. 



41 

and Continue — no time being specified — may punish by "Shackles, 
Moderate Whipping not exceeding X Strypes at once," or by " abridg- 
ing them of their food." The Court is to make necessary Rules. Discipline and 
11 Suitable Materials, such as are Necessary and Convenient for the 
keeping of such Persons to work during their Aboad there" to be 
furnished by the Town, if the person belong to a Town, if not by the 
Colony. 

Two-thirds of their earnings only to be devoted to the support of the 
inmates; the balance to be accounted for by the master. But if they Profit of work 
are heads of families, then "the whole profit and benefit of their 
labors, or so much as the said County Court shall direct, shall be for 
the relief and support of their families. If they be sick, weak, or un- 
able to work, they are to be relieved by the master, who shall be reim- 
bursed. 

Tne "civil authority" may order any vagrant or suspected person warning and 
to be sent back from constable to constable to the place from whence reraoval »P- 60 * 
he came, unless said person can produce good certificate of behavior: 
. . . and if such person shall return and abide in such town after 
warning to depart, "they shall be severely Whipt, not exceeding Ten 
Stripes." 

If persons are reduced or likely to be reduced to want by idleness, Laws of 1750 
mismanagement, or bad husbandry, the selectmen may appoint an idleness, etc. 
overseer. If this do not suffice for their reform, they may obtain a 
warrant and summon the person before a justice of the peace, and, on 
his advice, may take them and their families under their care, to 
"assign, bind, and dispose of in service as they may judge best." 

The several county courts are directed and required forthwith to p. 267. 
erect or provide houses of correction for -rogues, vagabonds, com- Houses of cor- 
mon beggars, and other lewd, idle, dissolute, profane, and disorderly 
persons, and for setting them to work." And a special tax may be 
assessed by the courts for the same. 

Later the preceding is altered so that the courts may not order the p. -272. 
erection of " work -houses, " as, they are here called, without the consent 
of the majority of the justices of the peace. 

Vagrants are classed with "suspected and transient persons." and Vagrants, 
may be sent back whence they came, and if they return, after formal 
warning, are to be "whipt on the naked body not exceeding ten 
stripes, and again be sent as often as there shall be occasion." 

Prisoners for debt and felons shall not be lodged together in any Debt, p. S3, 
common jail or prison in one room. 

Any person found drunken so that he be thereby bereaved and stock?, p. 45. 
disabled in the use of his reason, etc., to be fined 8 shillings; failing 



42 

means to pay, to be set in the stocks not less than one, nor more than 
three, hours. 

Indian?. Indians convicted of drunkenness are to be fined five shillings, or 

else to be whipped not exceeding ten stripes. 

Laws of 1784, Substantially the same as for 1715 and 1750. 

Laws of 1808. " Warning," and whipping for return are still retained. 

Laws of 1821. Warning and whipping still retained. Drunkenness is punished 

by a $2 fine. Common drunkards are included in the following: 

Title 109, Sec. 7. < i All sturdy beggars, who go from door to door; ... all vagabonds 
and vagrants; ... all persons who run away and leave their wives 
and children to be supported by the town; all who misspend what 
they earn and do not provide for the support of themselves and fami- 
lies; all common prostitutes and common drunkards may be committed 
to the House of Correction and sentenced to hard labor for such time 
as the court shall think proper, not exceeding 40 days." "Two or 

Sec. 9. more towns may unite in building, occupying, and maintaining a 

work-house in such manner and on such terms as they shall agree." 

At the close of title 109 of this revision (1821) there is the fol- 
lowing note : 

Revisers' note. " In the revision of 1702 there is a statute constituting the gaols in 
the several counties houses of correction, and in the revision of 1 750 
there is a statute directing each county to erect houses of correction, 
and containing regulations for the government of them. No houses 
of correction have been erected by any county. The legislature has 
from time to time authorized particular towns to erect workhouses, 
and in 1813 gave the same power to every town. Where they have 
been erected they have been found to answer an important purpose. 
Should the regulations of this statute be carried into effect in the 
several towns, there can be no question but that the discipline of the 
workhouse would be more effectual to restrain the commission of 
crimes of an inferior degree than any other punishment that can be 
devised" — an over-sanguine prediction, at least with such terms of 
detention as have been assigned for these crimes ! 

Laws of 1838. Justices of the peace may send to workhouse, or house of correc- 

tion, wherever by the statute they may send to the jail — as at 
increased pen- present. The maximum is ninety days. Surplus earnings may still 
go to the family. " Sturdy beggars " and " common drunkards " 
may have 40 days' sentence. 

Laws of 1849. " Sturdy beggars and common drunkards " now may have 60 days. 

Laws of 1866. The preceding is unchanged. 

Laws of 1888. The jails of the several counties are county workhouses, and under 

ion.* eS reV1S control of the county commissioners, as the town workhouses are of 
the selectmen. 



43 

Persons liable to be committed to any town workhouse may be Sec. 3410. 
committed to the county workhouse, or to the common jail, for 60 Jaiie. 
days, or on second offense for 120 days, and costs satisfied. 

Reproduces the former language concerning beggars, etc., but Sec. 3400. 
omits tha word "sturdy," consecrated by use in the English laws 
from the fourteenth century.* It meant able-bodied; and with it 
disappears, in our law, tolerance of begging by any person, whether 
able-bodied or not. The penalty for this class of persons — which 
includes common drunkards — is 60 days, and for second offense 120. 

Neglect to support family, unless physical incapacity or other good sec. 3402. 
cause can be shown, has 60 days. 

A new term appears — tramps. These are defined to be " tran- sees. 1546-51. 

rir r Tramps. 

sient persons" ; persons "who rove about begging" ; all "vagrants 
living without labor, or visible means of support," who "stroll over 
the country without lawful occasion." The maximum penalty is one 
year in State prison. Sheriffs, constables, policemen, special officers, 
if such be required, may arrest without warrant and prosecute them, 
and a reward of $5 from the State treasury is paid for every such 
arrest. Any act of beggary or vagrancy by a person not a resident 
of this State is prima facie evidence that the person is a tramp. Ex- 
cepted from the operation of the law are females, the blind, persons 
under 16, and "beggars roving within the limits of the town in which 
they reside. This last is suggestive of the old English " Begging 
license"f of 1531, 1555, and 1563, repealed in 1572. To such extent 
does history repeat itself ! 



* Richard II., A. D. 1388 — " Sturdy vagabonds, valiant beggars." 

t Permitted in parishes which were specially burdened by the care of their poor. v. Asch- 
rott. Das Englische Armenwesen, p. 58; and Appendix, p. 52. 



:~~ 








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45 

Nath 1 Cimberly "of New haven" is '-reserved." w.iuneieeo. 

"The towne by their vote gave Jarred Spencer liberty to dwell 20 Aug. 1660. 
amongst us an inhabitant w" 1 us at Hartford." 

" At a publique towne meeteinge at Hartford, complaynt beeing Deer, the 9th, 
made agenst M r "Casper Verlett for bringinge in a Dutch man named p. 107. 
Boltus Sz bis wife into y e towne & turneinge y m of in such a manner 
as the towne is not secured: the towne judgd his cariadg y r in as 
p r iudicall & offensiue & y r fore order y e selectmen to speake w th 
M r Verlett & in case he Sathisfie not y e selectmen, then they are togiue 
him warneinge to attend his bond to say to remove w th in 12 month or 
pay 100 le or stand to a tryall at y e court."* 

Care of Sick. 

" At the same towne meating the towne granted tenn pounds to be January me 7th, 

payed out of their rate towards M 1 ' Stone's charge of physicke wich he p. 83. 
hath taken of M r Rosseter" — this at a time when, in the annual 
inventory of the Town's belongings, the exact whereabouts of the Feb. 23, 1654. 
11 towne clocke" and the '-towne chayne " is indicated. The former 
is at " Goodman Prat's," the latter at " Richerd Butler's," one of the 
"townesmen." 

Provision for and Disposal of Poor. 

"The Towne by their voat apoynted the townsmen in being ", — 2 on Feb. 17, 1664. 
the " north side;" 2 on the " south side " — " to use their best descretion 
in providing and disposing of goody Kely and hur child either to put 
out the child and prouid for hur, or provid for them together as they 
shall se caus according to ther best descretion." 

The Town apprentices j- John Arnold to Ann Sanford, her heirs, Dec. 29,1676. 
executors, or administrators for 15 years. The "Selectmen" act as 
the Town's representative in this transaction. 



* This is the first case under the Town Vote of Feb. 14, 1659. It also contains the first men 
tion of " Selectmen." But at the next annual meeting, Feb. 23, 1662, they chose " Towneemen " 
as before. 

t "The Selectmen in obseruance of the order title Poore, page 57, (revision 1673:— that "the 
Selectmen may place out neglected children into good families") did put John Arnold an 
apprentice,'" etc. 



DIGEST OF TOWN VOTES CONCERNING WORKHOUSE 
AND ALMSHOUSE.* 



Vol. 3, p. 64 : 

Dec. 3i. 1811. Committee appointed to consider the expediency of altering the 

mode of supporting the poor of the town, and also whether it be ex- 
pedient to establish a temporary almshouse and workhouse, and to re- 
port to some future meeting of the town. 
Id. 64 and 65 : 

3d"Monday, It- was resolved as the sense of the meeting u that all the town 

January, 1812. p 0Qr ^ e SU pp 0r t e d at the place or places where the selectmen have or 

shall have a general contract for the support of the poor, except in 

some special or extraordinary cases, when the selectmen for the time 

being shall otherwise direct." 

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting it is expedient for 
the town to establish a temporary almshouse and workhouse" 

V>4ed, That Enoch Perkins, Esq.. together with the selectmen, be 
a committee in behalf of this town to petition the General Assembly 
at their next session to grant authority to this town to establish a work- 
house therein, and to ordain such by-laws as may be judged necessary 
relative to the persons to be committed to such workhouse, to the 
manner of their being committed and confined therein, and to the 
well-ordering and governing such house and keeping the persons con- 
fined therein to labour.'* 
Id. 66 : 

4th Monday. A committee was appointed to consider the expediency of estab- 

Nov., 1812. ]j snm g a temporary workhouse and to negotiate with the proprietor of 
such buildings as may be found convenient for that purpose in regard 
to the using of such buildings as a workhouse, and to frame a system 
of regulations for the purpose aforesaid and report make to an ad- 
journed town meeting. 
Id. 69 : 

Lan Monday. Dwelling-house of Ashbel Seymour and appurtenant buildings consti- 
Dec. 1812. f-uted an d established a workhouse. Various bv-laws : 



Compiled by A. L. Shipman. Esq. 



47 

1. Selectmen for time being are made overseers of workhouse 
according to statute. This statute entitled " an act to enable the town 
of Hartford to establish a workhouse and to ordain by-laws for the 
government thereof' was passed in May, 1812, and is printed on page 
1521, Vol. I and II of the Private Laws. 

2. Provisions of the statute are made applicable as to the time 
and mode of being confined. 

3. As to who shall send inmates to the workhouse. 

4. Selectmen to establish regulations, etc. These by-laws to re- 
main in force until January 1, 1814, unless revived. 

Id. 71 : 

" Voted, That those persons who are sent by the selectmen of 4th Monday, 

» f J Nov., 1813. 

Hartford to the poorhouse for support shall not leave said house and 
farm without a written pass signed by a majority of the selectmen, 
and if they do leave said house and farm without said pass they shall 
suffer such suitable punishment as said selectmen shall direct to be 
inflicted." 
Id. 72 : 

By-laws of last Monday of December, 1812, is continued in force Dec. 31, 1813. 
until January 1, 1815. 
Id. 77: 

(Former provision having expired by lapse of time.) Committee Nov. 27, 1815. 
was appointed to take into consideration the subject of building a 
workhouse and a poorhouse. 
Id. 78: 

Committee reappointed. Dec. 29, i8is, 

Id. 83 : 

Committee reported and it was voted : Dec. 16, 1816. 

1. That town poor be supported in one place by contract except 
in extreme cases. 

2. Selectmen frame proper resolutions. 

3. Binding out children. 
Id. 88 : 

Committee appointed to prepare a plan for supporting poor of Dec. 29, 1817. 
town, ascertaining suitable site for erection of building, etc. 
Id. 102 : 

Another committee appointed. Nov. 26, 1821. 

Id. 103 : 

Committee reported and it was voted : March 21,1822. 

1. That it is expedient to adopt proper measures for the procurement 
of an almshouse ivith suitable apartments and appurtenances for a work- 
house. 

2. Committee appointed to select a suitable site. 



48 

3. Committee authorized to borrow $5,000 for the purpose. 
Id. 105 : 
Nov. 25. 1822. Committee appointed to frame laws and regulations for the manage- 

ment and government of the almshouse and workhouse lately erected 
pursuant to a vote of the town, and for the employment and control 
of those persons that shall be sent to the same, and their report make 
to an adjourned town meeting. " 
Id. 105 : 
Dec. 30. i822.| Committee reported and it was voted : 

•'That the new brick building erected on the town lands latelv pur- 
chased, or such part thereof as may be necessary be. and the same 
hereby is, appropriated to be improved in future by this town as and 
for a workhoust." 

Regulations were established : 
" That the old dwelling-house standing on said town lands, and so 
much of the new building as shall not be otherwise used, be improved 
for an aim sic 

By-laws and rules established, among which: 

"All the poor whom this town is liable by law to support shall be 
placed in the almshouse, and in case any one who wpplics for assistance 
shall refuse to receive his support On i a situation to be removed to 

it, such refusal shall be prima facie evidence that he is not in 
Provided, however, that this rule shall not prevent the selectmen from 
affording aid otherwise in cases where economy, humanity, ornecessitv 
require it." 

All the labor pertaining to the institution, so far as may be prac- 
ticable, shall be done by the poor t or by persons sent to the u 
and the latter while employed in the almshouse shall conform to its 
rules, but in case of disobedience shall be punished only by the 
master of the workhouse according to their original sentence. 

[X. B. Two masters. (1) workhouse. (2) almshouse.] 

•None of the poor shall leave the workhouse limits without a 
ticket from the masters, which shall be returned to him. Nor shall 
any ticket for leave of absence be given but for special and urgent 
reasons, and in no case to a person sentenced to the workhouse until 
his sentence is expired." 

That the selectmen shall not, after the poor shall have been placed 
in the almshouse, expend during the current year more than $200 for 
the relief or support of the poor in this town, except at the alms- 
house. 
Id. Ill : 
Nov. 24. 1S23. Meeting approved of purchase by selectmen of a small piece o^ 

land for the accommodation of almshouse. 



49 

Id. 118: 

Given authority to purchase additional land not exceeding- in value Not., 1886. 
$2,000. 

Id. 131: 

Committee -appointed to present a plan for improving the town 4th Monday, 
poorhosse. workhouse, and hospital establishment. 
Id. 135 : 

Committee enlarged by four more members and instructed to re- Nov. 30. 1829. 
port at next meeting. 
Id. 199: 

Another committee appointed to ascertain and report to a future Dee.,l8S8. 
meeting a plan and the estimated expense of an almshouse and work- 
house for the town of Hartford. 
Id. 209 : 

Committee reported and exhibited a plan; the subject was post- Dec. 9, 1S39. 
poned until meeting on the 30th inst. 
Id. 212 : 

Subject recommitted to a committee : Dec. 30, 1839. 

Voted, " That the committee be requested to present to the town a 
plan for the improvement of the present Town House buildings, and 
for such additions thereto as may appear to them to be necessary ; 
also that they report upon the expediency of erecting entirely new 
buildings either of wood or of brick, and that said plans shall 
separate the criminals from the poor : also that they report upon the 
expediency of having a workhouse in a new location, and that a 
separate estimate of each plan be presented."' 
Id. 219 : 

Committee reported and committee appointed to prepare a plan. Dec. 14, i840. 
Id. 221 : 

Plan of new almshouse approved. Appointment of committee to Jar. n.isii. 
erect. Authorized a to make alterations in the details of plan as they 
deem expedient with the approval of the selectmen. 
Id. 224 : 

Committee appointed "to take into consideration the subject of Oct. 24, i84i. 
providing a suitable hospital for the sick at the almshouse, and also 
the expediency of providing a workhouse and suitable regulations 
therefor, and also the propriety of taking down or disposing of the 
old buildings now used as an almshouse and a workhouse." 
Id. 228 : 

Committee last named reported; recommitted for further con- Dec. 15, is4i. 
sideration. 

Almshouse committee reported. 



i 

I:. .:. 
*ii -: Committee on hospital and workhouse repor: 

Voted, '-It be referred to the selectmen to provi ie at then 
cretion suitable accommodations in the new alms b 
of the workhouse," and also for the e 
VoL 4, p. 61. 
i-: is- Selectmen directed to inquire into the expedien 

house property and making other provision for the support of those 
persons who are sent there and to rep: 
Id. 94: 
:: :>-:- Report that it would not be expedient. 

Id. 1S6 : 

Committee appointed to devise a plan for sale of town farm. 
Id. I 
Nor.i3.i8iL 3 ectmen are hereby requested to petition the next Genera 

sembly for power to take as much land as they may deem proper for 
purpose of an almshouse, under power of eminent domain. After 
obtaining such authority, selectmen are authorized to parch 
take so much land as they may deem proper for an al oro- 

:ed that such purchase may first be approved by a town meeting 
.".u'.v -\zz- : 

The following resolution was then passed, to wit : 

As the sense of this meeting that criminals should not he 
kept in the same building with our pot 
- 

ition was passed on * m of Mr. W 

ri :-.::. r :-'.■: J. 
.15: 

Voted, That a : be appointed by 

meeting to select a site for a pes" illding, it not being expe- 

dient to put the building on the present town farm, and also 

Id. 217 : 
- '--'-- Committee of five presented a ma; report. 

Z .:- ha Johnson presented a vote to pure has in almsh 

and the necessary and convenient Ian — Peckham's 7arm on" 
--' 

Meeting divided and adjourned. 
Id. 233 : 
"i-. ':■'. .r r - -ibject, same El was voted that George E 

William J. Hamersley, John L. Bonce, A. E. Burr, and James 3 
Batterson be appointed a com examii a fu- 

ture meeting upon the expediency of parch _ ; wn farm or : 






51 

land for the town, and upon the propriety of separating the town 
poor from its criminals. 
Id. 235 : 

Committee presented a majority and minority report; no definite Oct. 2, 1875. 
action taken. 
Id. 278 : 

Selectmen directed to require keeper of townhouse to make a Oct. 15, 1877. 
monthly detailed statement of all receipts and expenditures by him 
on account of town house and town farm. 
Id. 357 : 

Appointment of committee to examine and investigate charges Jan. 16, 1880. 
against George Goyt, superintendent, Eli Warner, W. W. Knight, 
physicians, and inquire into management. 
Id. 358 : 

Report favorable to management accepted. Jan. so, l&so. 

Id. 361 : 

Committee appointed to co-operate and advise with all town offi Feb. 26, 1880. 
cers in regard to more systematic classification of accounts. 
Id. 361 : 

Selectmen appointed a committee to confer with selectmen of vari- 
ous towns of Hartford county, as to the expediency of establishing a 
county almshouse and a county workhouse to be placed under man- 
agement of a Board of Charities and Correction. 

First selectmen authorized to contract with George Goyt as super- 
intendent of the almshouse and workhouse. 
Id. 380 : 

Resolved that the selectmen he, and they are hereby, instructed to give Dec - 6, 1880. 
more careful attention to the management of the almshouse and outdoor 
alms, to see to it that the town shall not support able-bodied men, and 
especially to incur no new liabilities for rents ; to pay not more than §3 or 
$.£ per month in any of the present cases, and to discontinue this form of 
alms as rapidly as possible. 
Id. 455. 

Sum not exceeding $8,000 appropriated for the purpose of erect- 0ct - 27 « 18 ^. 
ing under the supervision of the selectmen a dormitory, barn, and out- 
buildings upon the town property upon Vine street. 

Appropriation of §87,000 for the erecting " upon the site of the Oct. 26, 1 885. 
new town farm an almshouse and other necessary buildings for the 
use of the town." 

Vote validated February 10, 1886 (Special Laws, Vol. X. p. 200), 
"That the vote passed by the town meeting in the town of Hartford, 
on the 26th day of October, 1885, appropriating $87,000 for the pur- 
pose of erecting an almshouse and other buildings for the use of the 
town be and the same hereby is validated and confirmed without 
further action of the town or its citizens." 



TX 

SKETCH 7 THE III 7 Z 7 7 7 -H POOR 

LA" —7:7 7717 ILL"'-" 77 : 



Tne church loo^ e poor until - — ingjh 

7 7 r 5 : r -r s : 

»■*- -_ Thus, in 91 Lgabond- 

'•--'-• -- -:-".: - ::>T_::;e::::a::«: fri- :: : 7v^.:l1 

i to be hang. 
5-rrr r egging licenses, in specific: 

A.D.B3L r issued to the non-abie- bodied. 

» Pe "' j vni, Tbe monastic houses _ «een suppressed, the State order 

at jre to - i ck, and 

alms from the church bo I Tate 

_ - 
- subject is not neglected ning reigns, bat Elisabeth 

^ractensbc energy. In l; rders that all 

income - ■> may be put to work on farms or at their 

trb -o justices of the peac-r 

_. the old begging Hcenaps are withdrawn. Private aims- 
- - _ 

realm of England and Wales be presently with rogues, vaga- 

_ ■ - ■ ■ 

daily happeneth in the same realm, horrible murders, ihefts, and 

' -\ _ :-jt 7 ---.■ 

beggai - be branded upon the shoulder, and a fine of twenty 

i upon '-any person harbouring or giving mc 
lodging, or other relief to any such — whether marked or not ~! In 
- . ton of alms had been inwtitnted who were to make 

lists of the poor and of the contributions for their support, and to 



53 

bishop was to be called upon to reprimand the hard-hearted ; and in 
1563, the justice of the peace was to be invoked to " move and per- 
suade" those who had been proof to the bishop's admonitions. But 
now (in 15*72) the justice can act immediately and fix the amount 
of the weekly contribution of those who have refused to give vol- 
untarily. 

In 1575-6, it is ordered that wool, hemp, and iron be kept on 
hand in order to provide work for beggars. On their refusual to 
work they are to be severely punished. This year, houses of correc- Houpes of c«> r - 

e , . ., , . . , rection, A. D 

tion for the incorrigible are instituted. 1575-G 

Twenty years later, overseers of the poor follow — to be appointed Overseers of 
in every parish by justices of the peace. Sir Francis Bacon was a 3, a.d 1597-& 
member of the committee which reported this act. The report in- 
eluded other social and economical improvements l which were incor- 
porated in later acts. Of these latter the most systematic was that of 
1601. It omits the former cruel penalties for begging and introduces Taxation tor the 
taxation for the care of the poor instead of the already described 2, a.'d.'igoi. ' 
largely voluntary contributions. It imposes upon the overseers the 
duty of binding out, until they are twenty-four and twenty-one 
respectively, boys and girls whose " parents shall not be thought able 
to keep and maintain them." For the able-bodied adult, work is, as 
formerly, to be provided ; for the non-able-bodied, support at home or 
in poorhouses. 

The erection of houses of correction — instituted in 1575-6 — is Houses of uor- 

rection, 7 Jae. 

m 1610 ordered in all the parishes. I, 4. a. d. 

In 1662, under Charles IT, legal settlement appears. The poor Leg'iSettiem'nt 
had tended to settle in, and overburden the richer parishes. For the A.D a i'662.' 12, 
remedying of this alleged evil it is provided that when a person 
enters a parish who seems " likely to become chargeable " and is un- 
able to give security that the parish shall be made good in case he 
becomes chargeable to it, the church wardens, or the overseers, may 
within forty days lodge a complaint ; and any two justices of the 
peace may thereupon send the person back to the place where he last 
had a legal settlement. This latter is defined as capable of acquisition 
by birth ; property in one's own right ; residence, apprenticeship, or 
service during a period of at least forty days. The possession of a 
certificate of residence saves the old settlement in case of removal. 

This is the original of our legal settlement. The act was unfair 
and worked harm to everybody. Men with families especially clung 
to their parishes whether they had work there or not, rather than run 



1 Erection of hospitals for the poor; to reform breaches of trust touching lands given to 
charitable uses : concerning laborers, etc. 



54 

any risk by seeking work elsewhere. The pauper population in- 
creased with great rapidity and, with it, the poor rates. Litigation be- 
tween parishes concerning their mutual obligations was rife. Abun- 
dant judicial decisions and new laws were not long in following, with 
ever increasing confusion and litigation. Real care for the poor 
seemed often swallowed up in the anxiety of the local authorities to 
discharge every possible burden upon other communities — a thing 
not unknown among us. 

8 & 9 win. in. In 1696, ''shall have become chargeable" — our own statutory 

language — is substituted for "likely to become chargeable" — a 
great improvement. 
First Workho'ee In 1697, follows bv special act of Parliament the erection of the 

1697. . 

first workhouse at Bristol. It was to provide work for the able- 
bodied. Houses for the poor, incapable of work, had already been 
ordered in 1601. In the apparent success of the plan here, especially 
in reducing beggary, other places followed. The author 1 of Rob- 
inson Crusoe complained of what he called the injustice of compelling 
other labor to compete with pauper labor. Parliament, however, au- 
thorized parishes, either alone, or in union with others, to erect work- 

9 George I, 17, houses ; and declared that no pauper who should refuse to enter such 

A. D 1723. 

a house should be entitled to further support — the workhouse test, 
since called. Under the new law the expenditures for the poor fell, 
in spite of considerable increase in population, from £819,000 in 1698 
to £619,000 in 1750. They had been £188,811 in 1650 ! 

The peculiar humanitarianism of the French Revolutionary period 

now comes to the front. The distinction between able-bodied and 

non-able-bodied begins to be obscured. The idea that the people are, 

above all, to be kept in a good humor, leads to laxness on the part of 

Gilberts Act. the overseers. The most important act of the period is Gilbert's Act, 

22 Geo. III., 83. . . . ,. , • • , , -, . 

A. d. 1782. which allows combinations of parishes for common poor-law admin- 
istration and transfers to guardians of the poor most of the duties of 
the overseers. The latter only keep the levying and collecting of the 
rates. Almshouses are provided for the old and sick and for mothers 
with illegitimate children. Work is to be furnished near their own 
homes, instead of in the workhouse, for able-bodied paupers. Their 
earnings go into the local treasury, and the balance needed for their 
maintenance comes out of the poor funds ! 
Speenhamiand In 1795 the Berkshire scheme is authorized. It attempted to fix 
' a minimum wage, regulated upon the price of wheat and the size of 

the laborer's family ; and the difference between actual earnings and 
this was to come from the poor fund. This was taken up eagerly in 



1 Daniel Defoe, in a pamphlet Giving Alms, no Charity, etc., 1704. 



55 

many places. It weakened the sense of responsibility in employers and 
employed, pulled down wages, and, like the preceding act, placed a 
premium upon unskilfulness, laziness, and improvidence. It discrimi- 
nated against other classes of the population, who must reduce their 
expenditures with a rise in provisions, while the laborer was assured 
his living, whatever its cost and his character, and however large his 
family. 

What was discretionary under Gilbert's act is now made obliga- outdoor Help 
tory. The able bodied must be helped at home, in '-case of sickness 36 Geo. Ill, 23, 
or distress." And justices of the peace were permitted to interpret 
the law and to overrule the overseers. Nineteen years later, any 
single justice is allowed to give an order for three months' home sup- 
port and any two for six months. " Kind-hearted justices " were in 
demand, and the poor budget rises in 1817 to £7,870,801, with a 
population of eleven millions.* 

In 1817 a special Parliamentary committee reported that the pre- 
vailing system threatened to swallow up the property on which the 
rates were levied. And in 1819 the Select Vestries act is passed. It select Vestries 
gives from one to six votes, according to tax-list, in parish elections. 58 Geo. in, 12, 
The parish vestry may choose a committee, or select vestry, for poor 
management. Distinction between deserving and lazy is insisted 
upon, and investigation ordered. Help is sometimes to be treated as 
a loan. Paid assistant overseers are instituted. 

The Vagrants act of 1824, still in force, made three distinctions: Vagrants act. 

1. Idle and Disorderly — Persons who neglected to support their 1824. ' 
families, open beggars, etc. ; penalty, one month in House of Correc- 
tion. 

2. Rogues and Vagabonds — Persons without visible means of sup- 
port and those offending a second time under the first class ; penalty, 
three months. 

3. Incorrigible Rogues — Persons who resisted officers and those 
guilty of second offenses under the second class ; penalty, one year in 
House of Correction, and, for males, the whipping-post. 

In 1832J- the famous Royal Commission is appointed "to make a 
diligent and full inquiry into the practical operations of the law for 
the relief of the poor." Arrangements are made, by a system of 
assistant commissioners, to secure accurate information of the working 
of the existing law and of foreign systems. 

In 1 834 comes the celebrated report of this commission. Workhouses Report of 1834. 
are found occupied often by families, in which generation after gene- 



* $3.58 per capita. Ours was $2.05 per capita in 1885. 

t Reform was in the air. Slavery was abolished in 1833. Self-government for the cities 
came in 1835 through the Municipal Corporation act. 



56 

ration of children had been born* — no classification, no discipline. 
Support at home, so far as given, consists chiefly in rent and orders. 
The latter are working largely into the private business of the over- 
seers : the former has developed a lively trade in tumble-down houses, 
the owners of which draw a sure income from the public treasury. 
Most of the expenditures, however, are in the shape of money allow- 
ances — otherwise called bread, or head money. The ticket system is 
of frequent use. The poor man received from the parish a ticket 
directed to some employer guaranteeing to the latter the difference 
between what the man could earn and the cost of maintaining him and 
his family. He had to be supported, so the determination who should 
discharge the duty was sometimes made by lot ! The independent 
laborer was found to be oppressed by the reduction in wages which 
the system induced, and depressed in spirits at the sight of the lazy 
ancl unskilful better cared for physically than he. Free movement in 
search of better work was hindered by the operation of the laws of 
settlement and removal. Overseers were often incapable of reading. 
Small shopkeepers ruled the vestry for their own ends. The educated 
classes kept aloof. The justices, who might have forced them to 
serve, preferred to choose from the lists given them by the general 
vestry or by the retiring overseers. The clerk often dominated and ruled 
by threats. The approval of the annual statement of expenditures 
had become a pure formality. The laws were found to be bad. their 
administration still worse. 
4and5Will.iv, On the report of this commission followed the Act of 1834, which 

76, A. D. 1834. r 

has remained essentially unchanged to our day. This appoints three 
commissioners, chosen by the Crown, who hold office for five years, 
make general regulations for poor administration in the whole of 
England and Wales, and are responsible to the home secretary. They 

Unions may unite parishes into common administrations, called unions, for 

common administration, order changes in workhouses and regulate 
outdoor relief. Local management is left to guardians, overseers, and 
justices. The responsible agent" of the board is the clerk ; the active 
agent, the relieving officer. 

The fundamental principle of this law is that ■ ■•' the condition of 
the pauper ought to be, on the whole, less desirable than that of the 
independent laborer, and that distribution in money or goods is incon- 
sistent with this principle." 

Outdoor Pro- The Outdoor Prohibitory order of 1844 prohibits outdoor relief to 

^hibitory or- ,,..,,. , . - , , 

der. A. d. the able bodied, save in case of sudden ana pressing necessity. 



* We are informed that representatives of three generations couid lately be found in the 
almshouse of a rural town in this State— the latest one born there ! 



57 

The duties of the three commissioners of 1834, greatly enlarged, Poor Law 

P , i , , ..„.,' , Board or com- 

are now transferred to a central board, consisting of a president, named miBsionere. 10 
by the Crown, and, as ex-qffieio members, the President of the Council, \m. a. d. 
the Lord Privy Seal, the principal Secretary of State for the Home 
Department, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. These name a 
secretary and inspectors. The latter visit almshouses, and may at- 
tend — without a vote — meetings of the local boards of guardians. 

In 1852 outdoor relief to able-bodied females is limited to one 
week and to special objects — what we call strictly temporary ; while 
to able-bodied males such help is forbidden, unless they are in literal 
want. 

Agitation concerning the laws of removal led to fixing the term at Peers act. o 

. , „ „ /f . , . , and 10 Vict., 

five years, in 1846 — military or naval service, imprisonment, residence 1S46. 
in hospital, or time during which public help had been received, not 
to be included. 

In 1861 the term of settlement was reduced to three years, and 3 years, 
residence in any parish in the union sufficed. And so it still remains. 
Removal by the authorities may be effected during the first year alone. 

In Scotland, five years' residence secures settlement, and removal 
may follow at any time during this term. In Ireland, there is no law 
as to either settlement or removal. Public opinion in England seems 
to favor the suppression of the removal clause in the law, save in 
seaports. A Parliamentary report recommended this in 1879. but 
nothing has come of it. 

Conferences between representatives of unions, for the improve- c °g fe ^ C 4~" 
nient of the administration, received statutory sanction in the act of Y}$}- : A - D - 

1833. 

1883. 

In 1870 the London Charity organization was set up, designed to 
be a means of communication between the public and private institu- 
tions of benevolence,* on one side, and the poor-law authorities on the 
other. It is a purely voluntary society and has a number of branches 
in various places. 

The final change of importance in the central administration came Local govern- 

° *- ment board 

in 1871. The Local Government is an enlargement of the Poor-Law act. 34 and 

° 35 Vict., 70, A. 

Commissioners Board of 1847. Its composition is substantially the D. 1S71. 
same, but its president has ministerial rank. Its scope appears in the 
title of its annual publications down to 1875-76 : 1. Relief of the 
Poor : 2, Sanitary acts ; 3. Public Health. Since 1875-76, their titles 
are : 1, Administration of the laws relative to the relief of the poor ; 
2, Administration of the laves affecting local government and public 
health ; 3, Local taxation and valuation. 



* The income and disbursements of these in London alone amounted to from twenty to 
thirty-five millions of dollars in 1863. The Poor-Law officials apprehended from their frequent 
lavishness and lack of proper discrimination interference with their own system, and welcomed 
the new organization. 
D 



oS 



VII. 
FRANCE. 

In France, public help has had a history analogous to that of 
England. At first it was in charge of the church, which covered the 
land with asylums (hospices), hospitals!// :-nimand<r - 

and institutions for erysipelas and leprosy patients. In 154 6, under 
Francis I. the state intervened for reformation and regulation. In 
and 1606, under Henry of Navarre, a chamber of Christian 
charity was established, largely to bring back to their original destina- 
tion establishments and funds usurped by private individuals. In 
1662. under Colbert, a general asylum was ordered in all the cities 
and large towns, for the care of beggars, invalids, and orphans. In 
the same reign, the work was continued, after Colbert's death, by 
Louis himself. The aim was organization and unification of aid for 
the helpless, together with provision of places of labor for able-bodied 
beggars. For the control of these last, laws were passed in 1699 and 

The bureaus for outdoor aid (bureaux .ad come 

into being in Paris definitely in 1544. Their administration was com- 
posed of thirteen citizens, nominated by the provost of the merchants, 
and of four councillors of Parliament. They had the important right 
of levying and collecting taxes. In the provinces, however, there 
was no uniformity of law or custom in any matter of public aid. The 
movement in behalf of foundlings, under St Vincent de Paul, in 
Paris, in the next century, is familiar to all. 

In 17S9. the National Assembly took up this whole matter with 
characteristic courage and confidence. It first confided the entire ad- 
ministration to the civil authority, and then, in 1791. created a gen- 
eral establishment for the care of foundlings and the sick and for fur- 
nishing work to the able-bodied poor. 

The accustomed unwisdom of the National Convention displayed 
itself in the radical and impracticable character of its utterances and 
measures. The right of the poor to be helped, the obligation to help, 
unity in system were proclaimed solemnly, and then the property of the 
charitable institutions, heretofore reserved, was turned into the public 
treasury and put under the hammer ! A national fete, of course, was 
decreed in honor of the unfortunate, and one of the ceremonies of the 
day was the public reading of the " Book of Charity'* — the pauper 
roll, we might perhaps call it. Everything was to be done by the cen- 
tral government. There was much wisdom and humanity in the great 
mass of legislation, but almost the only measure which proved prac- 
ticable was the appropriation of the funds ! 



59 

When the Terror was over, things did not mend rapidly. The Di- 
rectory's laws that all abandoned new-born children should be received 
at all the hospices of the republic and cared for at public expense, 
when the means of the establishment were insufficient, led to the 
doubling of the number of abandoned children. There were 40,000 
in 1789 and 80,000 in 1810. 

We shall not follow the history of poor aid further, but only add 
that the law of 1793, which took everything away from the local com- 
munity, had to be followed — in 1796 — by one which, like our own, 
fixes the responsibility chiefly upon the local community. The rela- 
tions of the general government to the local administration are suffi- 
ciently described elsewhere in the letter of M. E. Peyron and our notes 
upon it. In Paris, there is a bureau de bienfaisance for every ward 
(arrondissement). Each is administered by a commission, composed of 
the mayor of the arrondissement and his assistants, ex officio, and from 
twelve to eighteen other members. These last are chosen by the pre- 
fet of the Seine, on the nomination of the director-general. They are 
selected from a triple list submitted by the mayor. To each bureau 
are attached committee-men and charitable ladies nominated by the 
commission. The members of the commission, as well as the commit- 
tee-men and the ladies, serve without compensation. 



GERMANY. 

The Elberfeld System has been sweeping through Germany of late 
years with a rush which nothing could withstand. It was inaugu- 
rated in the town of Elberfeld in 1853, on the initiative of Daniel von 
der Heydt and Privy Councillor Lischke, mayor of the city. Its 
characteristic is individualization — the enlisting of private individu- 
als in the service of charity, and so districting the territory that these 
individuals may easily become personally acquainted with the poor 
assigned to them. The president of each group of visitors is the 
medium of communication with the central committee. 

In Dresden this last consists of one salaried and three unsalaried 
members of the upper, and of four unsalaried members of the lower 
branch of the city government. The latter chooses in addition seven 
citizens for a term of three years. The visitors (Armenpfleger; liter- 
ally carers for the poor) are chosen for three years — half of them by 
one, half by the other branch of the government.* In 1889 there 
were 439 of them, arranged in 43 groups or unions (Vereine), of from 



* Die Organisation u. Verbindung der amtlichen u. nichtamtllchen Armenpflege in Dres- 
den : Dr. Victor Bohmert. ; 



60 

9 to 14 visitors, to each of whom fell on the average 7 or 8 aided 
persons, including children boarded out. The occupations of these 
visitors were as follows : three physicians, 4 druggists, 10 architects, 
builders, etc., 33 civil officers. 18 manufacturers. 16 clergymen, 181 
tradesmen, 2 engineers. 75 merchants. 1 artist, 51 teachers — includ- 
ing 6 superintendents and 10 head-masters — 3 judges, 2 retired mili- 
tary officers of high rank, 34 private citizens. 3 professors, and 3 
lawyers.* 

Cr.ses are kept under constant inspection, of a friendly, sympathetic 
character, and there is systematic adaptation of the help offered to the 
changing circumstances of the helped. The central committee has 
final decision of all matters, and portions out the supplies of whatever 
kind to the district visitors to be by them delivered in person to their 
wards. 

The tables elsewhere given will afford fair opportunity for judging 
as to the results of the system. It seems to be in sharp contrast to 
that of England. The latter tends steadily to help only through insti- 
tutions and official channels: the German rather at home and by pri- 
vate cooperation. 

A comparison i.i the matter of cost is not easy. Vast sums have 
been spent in England upon charitable establishments within a few 
years, and the supply is not yet complete. It is not without signifi- 
cance that each system finds some of its warmest admirers araon.ir 
earnest students of other nationalities. An illustration of this, and at 
the same time a good description of the institutional side of German 
poor-relief, will be found in an article lately contributed to the Nine- 
teenth Century and copied into No. 2433 of LittelCs Living A f 

The German Imperial Constitution does not deal directly with 
poor- relief. It guarantees to all citizens the same privileges in every 
State which they possess in their own. But imperial laws limit these 
privileges in the matter of free movement and settlement of the 
indigent. J; 

SWITZERLAND. 

The powers of the central government are very restricted in all 
matters in Switzerland. And in poor-relief everything is left to the 
individual cantons. Their autonomy is considerably more complete 
than that of our own states, and there is great variety of usage in 
respect to the care of the indigent. There are two chief points of view, 
however, which determine in a general way the policy of the cantons. 



* Report of the Council, p. 3. Dresden, 18S9. 

t Labor Colonies in Germany: The Earl of Meath. And for particulars of the Eberfeld 
system see Das Armenwesen, etc. Special Part. 1st Sec, p. US et >eq. Bohmert : Dresden. 1887. 
% Reichsverfassung: Art. 3. a : Ed. Dr. L. von Ronne. 



61 

One establishes responsibility according to home or birth, the other 
according to residence. The difference is not unlike that which 
exists between Connecticut and Massachusetts. Unfortunately no 
detailed original statements as to poor-relief and its organization in 
Switzerland have been accessible to us of later date than L878.J" 



VIII. 

WORCESTER, MASS., AND THE MASSACHUSETTS POOR LAW. 

This city presents the following facts: Population, 1890, 84,655; 
foreign, estimated from 1885, 24,090. Hartford, 53,230; foreign, 
not knowm. 

Cost per capita outdoor relief , $0,116 Hartford, - -$0.74 

Cost per capita all relief, - - 0.86 Hartford, - - 1.96 

Pauper population, - - 3,551 Hartford, - - 3,323 

Insane and imbecile, - - 121 Hartford, - - 186 (now 205) 

Organization. 
The board consists of nine members, viz. : the mayor, city marshal, 
and superintendent of schools, ex officio — the mayor being chair- 
man of the board — and six persons elected by the city council on 
joint ballot, two being elected in the month of December of each year, 
to hold office for three years, from the third Monday in January then 
next ensuing. No more than one of the six members thus chosen 
shall be eligible from any one ward of the city, and there are eight 
wards. Vacancies in the board may be filled by joint ballot of the 
city council at any time; the member so elected to hold office for only 
the unexpired term of the member who has ceased to hold office. 
Members do not receive compensation. The board elects its own 
clerk, who shall not be one of the members. The clerk is the executive 
officer of the board and is elected annually. He is city almoner and 
the agent of the board for all outdoor poor; and these include the vio- 
lent insane and the feeble-minded charges of the city in State institu- 
tions. The indoor poor at the almshouse are in charge of the superin- 
tendent and matron, and over them the clerk has no authority. But 
he admits paupers to the almshouse and discharges them. The board 
issue orders to the superintendent through him. There is an insane 
ward in the almshouse. Homes are found for abandoned children. 
No specific provision is made for orphans. If a child chances to be 
entrusted to the board its stay is only temporary. It is sent to the 
almshouse and a home secured for it as soon as possible. There is an 
"Orphans' Home" in Worcester supported by private contribution. 



t Le Pauperismee n Suisse: G. Niederer: Zurich, 1878. Die Schweizerischen Armenerzieh- 
ungs-Anstalten : Joh. Wellauer unci Johs. Muller: Schaffhausen, 1878. 



Officers and their Compensation. 

Members of the board, nine in number, — no compensation. 

Clerk of the board — one — SI, 500 per annum. He has no other 
business and devotes his whole time to this work. 

Assistants of the clerk. Permanently one lady clerk at $1.75 per 
day: temporarily, from November to May each year, a second lady 
clerk at §1.75 per day. 

Total office salaries $2. 3 2 1.63. 

Hartford — First selectman $2,300. His clerk $1,500. Extra 
clerk hire (1890) $254.70. Other selectmen $1,000 — Total $5,054.70. 
Of this two- thirds should probably go to the account of poor adminis- 
tration, say $3,36'.' - 

Medical Officers. 

One physician: compensation $1,200 per annum. 

Hartford, three physicians, compensation $1,480 — besides which 
there are three city police surgeons who are paid fees for actual ser- 
vices. 

- 

The law under which the above results have been attained is thus 
summarized by F. Brown, clerk of the board in Worcester: 

" By the State pauper laws five years continuous residence without 
pauper aid and the payment of three poll taxes gives settlement to 
adult males: five years continuous residence without pauper aid gives 
settlement to adult females. Children under age follow parents.'" 

We add:* Adults having estate of inheritance or freehold in the 
State and living on the same thr - - .-ears obtain settlement, 

ucum bents of town offices for one year: settled ministers of the 
gospel: persons who have served an apprenticeship of four years and 
within one year thereafter set up a trade: - .'.ors in the late 

war, of one ye — bounty jumpers and deserters excepted. 

Old legal settlement continues until a n^ - acquired. 

Tlie overseers of the poor of every town and city must care for all 
poor and indigent who have legal settlement there: and temporary 
aid for not longer than four wee- -.me — save in case of sick- 

- — or for more than $1 per week per person, or $5 per week per 
family, may be given to persons having no legal settlement there. In 
all cases of temporary help the overseers must give immediate notice 
by mail to the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity, which 
board must examine the case and give direction as to the continuance 
of such aid, or the removal of the person to the State Almshouse, or 
to some place out of feheS is the case may be. The State reim- 

burses the town or city for all its reasonable expenses in such ca- - 

* Chapters S3 and 54- Massachusetts Laics rifl* 



63 

Overseers may remove persons having no legal settlement, after 
two months' notice to the authorities where the persons belong. 

Overseers miay require any person not a resident of the town or 
city, who receives food or lodging from them, to perform a reasonable 
equivalents work in return therefor and may detain him for the 
same, not later, however, than eleven o'clock in the forenoon of the 
day succeeding his application. If, being able-bodied, he refuses to 
work, he is deemed a vagrant and punished accordingly. 

Inability to maintain wife or children in a lunatic hospital, or other 
institution of charity, reform, or correction, by order of a court or 
magistrate, does not constitute the person a pauper. 

In 1885, and every ten years thereafter, the overseers of the poor 
are required to answer statistical questions which take up one- half 
page of the statute book. 

The laws under which the Hartford results have been attained are 
given elsewhere. 



IX. 

INSANITY. 

The statistics of Insanity have nowhere been very reliable. In 
the United States there were 22,428 insane according to the census of 
1870, and 91,959 in 1880. The population, by those two censuses, 
was 38,558,371, and 50,155,783. There had been, therefore, an 
increase of 410 per cent, in insanity against 30.1 per cent, in popula- 
tion — which is hardly credible. The greater part of this discrepancy 
is accounted for, most likely, by increasing completeness of registra- 
tion. Even in England there is a constant disagreement between the 
census returns and those of the Commissioners of Lunacy, as appears 
"by the following table. 

INSANITY IN ENGLAND. 





Males. Females. Total. Percentage of Deficiency of 

Lunacy Commissioners. 


Year. 


Census. 


Lunacy 
Commis- Census, 
sioners. 


Lunacy 
Commis- 
sioners. 


Census. 


Lunacy 

Commis- Males, 
sioners. 


Females. 


Total. 


1871 
1881 


32,874 
39,780 


26,009 
32,973 


36,145 
44,714 


30,746 
40,140 


69,019 
84,503 


56,755 20.5 
73,113 17.1 


14.9 
10.2 


17.7 
13.5 







According to the report of the commissioners in 1890 there were 
84,340 persons of unsound mind in England, January 1, 1889, against 
36,732 in 1859. By population there were 1,867 per million in 1859, 
and 2,907 in 1889 — an increase of 55.7 per cent, in thirty years. 



64 

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_ - - - 

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v ., 7 ;. 7 ; - - 
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imuir. : - " _ : . . - " " — ' V^ oeaL 

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the p states an: r 

ISfi - s ] - f in 1881 " -:- 187 the : - 






X. 

SIR MORRELL MACKENZIE ON THE USE AND ABUSE 

3PITALS. 

T^he bad effects of gratuitous medical relief have been abundantly 
shown, and it is not denied that they exist, to a very large extent, not 
only in London, but practically everywhere throughout the country. 
The time has come when the abuse must be abolished. But how is 
this to be dor. 

practitioners, who have had the bread taken out of 

their mouths by the hospitals, have sometimes said in their haste, that 
the out-patient department should be reformed altogether outo: 
ence. This drastic remedy, however, would probably defeat its 
object. The real remedy for the congestion of the out patient depart- 
ment is depletion. All cases, in which a genuine claim to the receipt 

_ \:uitous hospital relief cannot be established, should be eliminated. 
For this purpose two things are necess : — a definite waterline 

of poverty, above which charity is not permitted to extend, and an 
adequate system of inquiry to prevent imposture. The difficul: 
such a system of inquiry are great. But at Manchester, in the course 
of a I- a well-organized system of invest _ has rfiuced 

the proportion of cases in which hospital charity is abused from - 2 _ 
to about 6 per cent. 

I approve of the Prussian law. by which all workmen are compelled 
to insure again- - - knees. The amount of insurance is 1^ per cent, 
of the wages earned. Of this, one-third is defrayed by the employer, 
the remaining two-thirds being deducted by him from the workmen's 

ges before they are paid. My own plan would be that the Poor 
Law infirmaries, the hospitals and the provident dispensaries should 
be combined, so as to form one large system of eleemosynary medical 
_r what on the lines of the French A& _" inder 

the control of which are all the hospitals and dispensaries in France. 
I am strongly of opinion that a small charge to out-patients at hos- 
pitals, carefully graduated according to the patient's means, would, of 
to much to diminish the evils now existing. In the Pr 
\ls payment is universal. All sorts and conditions of patients 
are freely admitted, and patients are divided into three — js 
ing the rate of payment — Sir Morrell 7 temporary 

.London October, 18 



-A 

::: 

:z. 7_z r; rzz ~7zz v 

z :? z±?.zj : zz7 



Q. I>f> yon happen to know whether the 

-i: :?«t Z ~; -.1. ; :v -j-- : ;::••: t :;-!■-• ::::.: Z::ii: 

I have no absolute information on this subject, bat from ob- 
-- - : - - ,- I :±-r ~iir i - _- 7 • :-- lz v -^ - - •-•.!> "--7 lT-r 
^■::.;::i:>:;::ri:::.t : irse* \iir_ - .-7 ±r-r ir. Zi^'jl- : 

Q. Wonld compulsory life assurance erf workmen be practicable, 
I _- : 
The workmen are so thriftless that they would never 
subiscribe^ vafcmtarily, and no government: would dare to brir g 

r_r:iilTr : i : It ? : : _ 



?: :: 771-;: z. 7 ?zzz z - 

~7 " : ~ " ~ Z - :.: -^ i : J "::••? Z.zi'i - 

Zz:j ~:zy Z M:'~. •: x Z~ • ■ -. si --'■ • " /:■<-' 

77 Z~ - — I . - - -i "-: . . ~ :i •. '.- ' :-; "" : : " :~ ' --"-: 

of January 6th. until now. RepZ 

7 — : il: - . ~ — 



Q. By -out-patient " department precisely what is meant ? Oar 

"': ".-:_"-::-- .- ~_ : :_ - ; Zii _ : - : ::uZ :' : ; :'.;z: : .7. 

.-_ 77 ■ z: '.t! i.". i : : l:-; 

Q. Are ^pauper patients. - when admitted to your general 

i -;.'.- i : : - - -_- _ ; i_ ; 5 :: :■; r- . ': - - Z- _ -;/,-- :z- -_- 

7 ■ . - : ' . - - - 
tea-etfeouufj p.o.ife.fco^tol.cdkd -Poor I*w H«k 

:: --. 1 7.1::^:- •:- i::~i".-: :7t: :ir- :•-- --,^1-: • :.r:-.: -"- 
from a Poor Law Relieving Officer. If a pauper is admitted to a 

_- -:■■/. :? re: i 1 -;"•. - " -- ::.zi:~ ~ .-.--■ -7;- "":- ;-..ir.=Z 

.- ; l - :;- 1 ": ;.;•- :': r : ir >:;:-. r- : - - -•■•: --- :- : Z:s ;:•--■?-: 

Q. La rerommrndin^. a graduated charge, according to the 

z-i.--.r--i r_r:i-_- - ii 7:" - -- -~ - ' ■ - i> ■ i.:o: ~ ~ :■: iv Li : 
::r7r-;.:i: ::-:Z:~:. fir i ii: : L -,.: :■: --_ :-:i':: is ■ ■.„ «.i~-: 

We give identical accommodation to all pati e nt* ; 
few feofffitafe admit private patients under any circumstances what- 



67 

1. So far as I am aware, there have been no well authenticated 
cases of unrelieved suffering in Brooklyn in consequence of the with. 
drawal of outdoor relief. 

2. There have been no appreciably heavy burdens upon institu- 
tions, public or private, resulting from this withdrawal. Outdoor 
relief was abolished, if I remember correctly, in 1879. The year fol- 
lowing, the numbers cared for in the public buildings was smaller 
than when outdoor relief existed. An article read by myself in Bos- 
ton, which was printed in the reports of the Conference of Charities 
in L880, or thereabouts, deals with the effects of the action with some 
particularity. Perhaps I ought to say that some people, since then, 
have pointed out that the large increase of children cared for in pri- 
vate asylums, at the expense of the State, reflects at least indirectly 
one consequence of the abolition of outdoor relief. Personally, I 
think the inference is without foundation. At all events there is no 
other direction in which any symptoms of disadvantage can be dis- 
cerned. 

3. Brooklyn shows no disposition to go back to the old way. I 
have never so much as heard it suggested that the city should return 
to the system of outdoor relief. 

Respectfully, 

SETH LOW. 



FROM MR. WM. VALLANCE, Clerk of the Board of Guardians of White- 
chapel Union, London. 

Answers to Questions Concerning the Effect of Reducing Out- 
door Relief, etc. 

Q. Under your present system has there been any considerable 
number of well authenticated cases of unrelieved suffering on the part 
of deserving poor ? 

A. I have no recollection of any such case. Indeed, it is to be 
said that the deserving poor are better looked after than formerly by 
voluntary workers and agencies. 

Q. Have any additional or excessive burdens been imposed upon 
public or private charitable institutions or associations, in consequence 
of your withdrawal of public outdoor aid ? 

A. Xo, for the simple reason that the poor who deserve to be 
saved from the workhouse, as a rule, need so much more than suste- 
nance which will but enable them to remain in a position of depend- 
ence. They need sympathy and personal help and advice tending to 
inspire the individual to achieve self-dependence. 

Q. Has this withdrawal been entire or only partial ? If the lat- 
ter, where do you draw the line — (a) as to beneficiaries, (h) as to sup. 



68 

plies: and what is your system as to the latter? Do you give or- 
ders, or cash, or the needed articles ? Do beneficiaries call or do you 
send ? 

A. We give no out-relief other than to three aged women (rem- 
nants of the old system), and to the sick under circumstances of sud- 
den and urgent necessity where they are unable to be removed to the 
Infirmary — the latter in kind only (not money). The supplies in 
kind are drawn from the Infirmary. 

Q. Do you employ physicians and give unlimited recourse to 
them and to their medicines; or do you limit this, as tending also to 
pauperization — and, if so. how ? 

A. We have three district medical officers who attend poor pa- 
tients upon the order of the relieving officer — not otherwise. An- 
nexed, marked A, is the certificate subsequently sent to the relieving 
officer 

Q. Do you give hospital treatment with tolerably free hand ? If 
so, at whose cost ? 

A. Yes, admission to the Infirmary (which is in its arrange- 
ments a hospital) upon the ground of destitution and sickness. The 
sick poor are admitted upon the joint order of medical officer and re- 
lieving officer. See annexed, marked B. 

Q. Do you detect evils in the direction of pauperization growing 
out of too free use of hospitals ? If so, what do you do, or propose, 
as a remedy ? 

A. With regard to general hospitals outside the poor law, a par- 
liamentary committee is now sitting upon their administration, and no 
doubt a valuable report will be the result. 

Q. Have you observed any evidences of good, such as greater 
thrift, economy, self-respect, self-helpfulness — the apparent conse- 
quence of your present policy ': 

A. The character of the poor has admittedly improved during 
the progress of our reformed administration, but it is of course diffi- 
cult to gauge the exact results. 

Q. Does anybody advocate return to the old system ? 

A. There is no serious advocacy of a return to the old system 
in this Union. 

Q. To what extent is England in general pursuing the course 
adopted by you ? 

A. In England and Wales the proportion of indoor to outdoor 
paupers is as 1 to 3 ; in Whitechapel as 5 to 1. 

Q. Do you ever pay part only of the burial expenses of the poor 
— or do you insist upon the whoie or none? 

A. The whole, or none. 



69 

FROM GEORGE ROOKE, ESQ. 
Effect of Reducing Outdoor Relief, Etc. 

Sale, Nr. Manchester, England, Feb. 20, 1891. 

Dear Sir: — My esteemed relative, the mayor of this city, has 
handed me your letter of 2d instant and suggested I should supply 
the information asked for. This I have pleasure in attempting as far 
as I am able ; premising that the city proper with which 1 am dealing 
contains no suburban dwellings, but consists of a population of 190,- 
000, almost exclusively of the working class, and many of the poorest 
of the laborers (with their families). Treating first of Poor Law Ar- 
rangements, you are perhaps aware that to obtain help from the rates 
which are collected corcpulsorily from ail classes, the applicant must 
be entirely destitute — relief in aid of wages obtained being (for obvi- 
ous reasons) illegal. For these we have a large hospital with twelve 
hundred beds and a staff of eighty paid nurses. We have schools 
where 600 children, fatherless or deserted, are boarded, and the work- 
house where 2,000 aged, disabled, and bodily or mentally unable to 
work, are provided for. Having these establishments efficient we pro- 
ceed to deal with "outdoor " cases by dividing the city into six dis- 
tricts, each under the care of an officer, to whom applications are 
personally made. On his report we give outdoor relief two shillings 
per week to each adult, and one shilling per week to each child, pro- 
vided the cases do not come with the classifications set forth in the 
printed regulations appended. A large portion of this is given in 
food, purchased in large quantities and delivered at cost price in lieu 
of coin. Kindly bear in mind that in our free-trade England the best 
bread costs only one penny per pound (two cents), sugar two pence, 
and other articles in ratio. This system has been in force now for 
fifteen years with the result that now, in the end of a severe winter, we 
have not more than 700 persons in receipt of "outdoor alms" and a 
cost total of £65 per week ($325). During the fifteen years we have 
had no proved case of undue hardship, and no complaints from the 
" press," the clergy, or the actively benevolent. Our system and regu- 
lations have been adopted in many other places, and are recommended 
for adoption by the Government Inspectors. 

Manchester City is well supplied with hospitals for the poorer 
inhabitants who are not included in the pauper list. We have general 
hospitals including accidents, and a number of establishments for 
special diseases for women and children, and for children only. To 
restrict the free use of these 'by persons able to pay the ordinary 
physicians fees, about twenty years since a system of Provident Dis- 



70 

pensaries was organized and the free use of the Charities for Medical 
Aid was restricted to those whose income from every source was less 
than thirty shillings per week for two adults and four children 
($7.50); those earning above that amount being required to subscribe 
to the nearest Provident Dispensary, where for a weekly payment of 
two cents per week for each adult, and one cent for each child, medi- 
cal assistance and medicine can be obtained free of further cost. 
There are now eight or ten of these dispensaries in different parts of 
the city, each having a staff of doctors from whom the sufferer can 
select. Some of these have 2,000 to 3,000 subscribing members, and 
they have a central organization, so that persons removing from one 
part of the city to another are transferred to the dispensary nearest 
their dwelling without losing advantage of previous payments. Most, 
if not all these, are now self-supporting, and fair sums are divided 
among the medical men who attend the patients at their own homes, 
and by special arrangements can introduce urgent cases into one of 
the hospitals best adapted for treatment of the disease. Results satis- 
factory. The dispensing of charity without doing harm to some of 
the recipients has been a problem not yet solved in this country, nor, I 
venture to say, in yours. The remark of one of our experienced 
government officials is worth quoting: "That system is best which is 
best worked." A. bad system worked with care, judgment, and energy, 
is often better in results than the best system administered without 
forethought, without observation, and without discrimination. 

If you desire more detailed information as to the Provident Dis- 
pensaries I can procure it for you. 

Yours sincerely, 

George Rooke. 

Justice of Peace, Poor Law Guardian, Member of Council of the Provi- 
dent Dispensaries. 
To Professor, 

Mr. John J. McCook, 

Hartford, Conn., U. S. 



Township of Manchester. 

REGULATIONS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF RELIEF. 

As adopted by tlie Board of Guardians, April 15, 1875, and amended on the 23d 
December, 1875, and 19th May, 1887. 

1. The standing orders which may from time to time be adopted by^the 
Guardians for regulating the administration of relief shall be strictly ob- 
served by the Relief Committees; but if, owing to the special circumstances 
of any particular case, the Relief Committee shall be of opinion that a depart- 



71 

ure from the standing order applicable thereto is advisable, such case shall be 
reported by the assistant clerk for the decision of the General Board, and in 
the meantime the Relief Committee shall make such provisional order in the 
case as to them shall seem necessarj'. 

2. That the following be made and constituted 

STANDING ORDERS. 

N 

I. Outdoor relief shall not be granted or allowed by the Relief Commit- 
tees (except in case of sickness) to applicants of any of the folllowing classes: 

(a) Single able-bodied men. 

(b) Single able-bodied women. 

(c) Able bodied widows without children, or having only one child to 

support. 

(d) Married women (with or without families) whose husbands, having 

been convicted of crime, are undergoing a term of imprisonment. 

(e) Married women (with or without families) deserted by their 

husbands. 

(/) Married women (with or without families) left destitute through their 
husbands having joined the militia, and being called up for train- 
ing. 

(g) Persons residing with relatives, where the united income of the fam- 
ily is sufficient for the support of all its members, whether such 
relatives are liable by law to support the applicant, or not. 

II. Outdoor relief shall not be granted, except in urgent or special cases, 
to persons whose destitution has been caused by intemperance or their own 
improvidence. 

III. Outdoor relief shall not be granted in any case for a longer period 
than eight weeks at a time. 

IV. Outdoor relief shall not be granted to any able-bodied person for a 
longer period than six weeks at a time. 

V. Outdoor relief shall not be granted, on account of the sickness of the 
applicant or any of his family for a longer period than two weeks at a time, 
unless such sickness shall be certified, in writing, by the district medical offi- 
cer, as being likely to be of long duration, or to be of a permanent character. 

VI. Where relief is allowed to a parent through the admission of a child 
or children into the Swinton Schools or the workhouse, such relief shall not be 
granted for a longer period than six months at a time ; and if at the expiration 
of such period a continuance of the relief is required, the relieving officer shall 
visit and enquire into the circumstances of the parent, and bring the case up 
for re-consideration by the Relief Committee, in the same manner as if it were 
a case of outdoor relief. 

VII. Outdoor relief shall not be granted or allowed by the Relief Commit- 
tees to widows, who, on the death of their husbands, have received money 
from a club, insurance society, or other sources, which, in the opinion of the 
Relief Committee or the Board, has been lavishly spent in mourning or fu- 
neral expenses, or has otherwise been improperly expended. 






72 

EEPLY OF GEORGE ROOKE. ESQ.. TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING 
THE MANCHESTER PRINTED RULES. 

Moorside Sale. 

Manchester, England. March 22. 1891. 
My Dear Sir : — 1 am much pleased if I can be of use to you in the 
somewhat difficult task you have undertaken. I have asked Mr. 
Smith, the secretary of the Provident Dispensary Association, to send 
you their rules and the report just issued, which will give you full in- 
formation as to this very successful enterprise. You ask the exact 
reasons for our standing orders, d t e, and /. As to the first, we 
are convinced that the wives of criminals are frequently aware 
either of the lines which their husbands are pursuing, or else they 
are wilfully ignorant, and, therefore, are particeps criminis. Secondly, 
the criminal is less disposed to commit robbery or embezzlement if 
he knows his wife and family are liable to suffer for it as well as him- 
self, and, further, we have reliable information that persons have com- 
mitted crime for the purpose of obtaining support for themselves and 
outdoor relief for their families, (e) When men have begotten large 
families here, they too often desert them and emigrate to America or 
elsewhere, leaving the wife and children to rely on the British tax- 
payer and unrestricted outdoor relief. (/) Militia men can. if so 
"disposed," remit a portion of their pay for the benefit of their fami- 
lies. But I must ask you to consider all these rules in relation to the 
first, aud also that we placard them on the walls of the city in the por- 
tions of it inhabited by the indigent and those so well described by 
my late dear friend and fellow-member of the Society of Friends, 
John Bright, as the "residuum.'* In this aspect, you will see what 
deterrent effect fhey are calculated to produce. 

When outdoor relief is refused and the workhouse is the only re- 
source, long experience shows us that in comparatively few cases is it 
accepted : resources undeveloped before are suddenly discovered, and, 
rather than " go in." an extra effort enables them to avert it. If they 
do enter the wards, only the mothers and the infants remain in the 
workhouse. All children are sent to a training school, five miles dis- 
tant, so as to be separated from contact with adult paupers Owing to 
the small number and low character of those who become inmates, we 
find no justification for outdoor relief, either as more economical or 
being more likely to secure good training. In England, we make no 
distinction between workhouse and almshouse under the poor law. 
Any almshouses that exist with us have been founded by private indi- 
viduals. No one is. by law, compelled to work after sixty years old. 
They are then placed in separate cheerful wards and allowed a day out 



73 

twice a month, and the younger paupers are utilized to attend upon 
them daily. I inclose copy of our rule as to pauper burials, which has 
been acted upon for fifteen years with perfect satisfaction. 

I believe I have now answered your queries, and shall be much 
obliged for your printed report when issued, as we can all learn, and 
nonexian say their education is complete. 

Yours very truly, 

GEORGE ROOKE. 



[Translation.] 

S. P. Q. R. 

COMMUNE OF ROME. 

Office Viit: Section 1. 
Rome, April 5, 1891. 

Following is such information as I am able to give concerning the 
charitable institutions of Rome: 

Up to the 31st of December, 1800, the Commune* of Rome, and, 
since that date, the Commission of Charities, have had the care of the 
administration of outdoor help (Soccorsi a domicilio). This help is 
given in money, bread, meat, and medical attendance. When a poor 
person cannot be aided at home, and when, by reason of infirmity or 
illness, he is judged incapable of work, and has no relatives legally 
bound to support him, he is received into one of the Asylums (Ospizify 
for the Aged — established for men, in the former Monastery of S. 
Cosimus over the Tiber; for women in the former Monastery of S. 
Gregory on the Celian. 

Outdoor aid is given only after an investigation of the financial 
state of the family, made by special agents. When the propriety of 
giving it is ascertained, the district physician is directed to make his 
visit, and at the same time provisions in bread and meat are sent 
according to the size and composition of the family. 

The aged are received into the asylums after investigation, deter- 
mination, and order according to the method just described. 

The two asylums in Rome cost in the neighborhood of Lire 150,000 
($30,000) annually. The one for men has 270, for women, 125 
inmates. 

In the hospitals (Ospedali) all are treated free of charge. These 
institutions have means of their own, which, up to 1870, abundantly 

*Our Town, very nearly. 

tThe French Hospice. The latter is often used interchangeably with Hospital. Bat 
strictly, Hospice is our asylum, or home — sometimes our almshouse. 
E 



74 

sufficed for their needs. In consequence, however, of the gradual 
increase of the population following the establishment of the capital 
of the kingdom at Rome these means have become insufficient, and the 
municipal government has been obliged finally to come to their help 
with subsidies, which have gone on increasing from year to year. In 
the budget of the commune for 1890 were the following items: 

Transportation of patients to hospitals, - Lire. 10,000.00 
Maintenance of various hospitals, v 

- Spirito, L. 129 , 

- .Uicano. L. 35,000 

S Maria della Pieta, - - L. 2.304 

Of the Child Jesus, - L. 70,000 

Total, maintenance of various hospitals, L. 229,544 

sidies to various hospi: 

- -iovanni, £.24.708.5 

ilation, L. 70,000.00 

- iacomo, L. 95,000.00 

Maintenance of 6 beds, on funds con- 
tributed by the Confraternity of the 
xii Holy Apostles, - L. 4,050.00 



Total of subsidies, - - 193 7", ~ 

Total of contributions bv the 



Municipality,- - L. 4 

In order to keep abreast of the demands made upon the various 
hospitals, it is certain that the subsidies will go beyond Lire 600,000 

I - ')- 

In the current year the government, and through it the Commis- 
sion of Charities, provides that the latter, in pursuance of the laws 
made for Rome, shall be responsible for all the expenses of public aid 
heretofore borne by the commune. 

r the various institutions of private benevolence, maintained by 
their own funds or by ch i are referred to the prefecture 

which ha- ron of the same. 

Your obedient Servant, 
the Syndic, 
- r ; O. CAETAXI. 

* An error in footing, or dee In the items, of /. 395. 



75 

[Translation.] 

Paris, Feb. 20, 1891. 
LETTER OF E. PEYRON. Director of Public Aid, Paris. 

Sir, — The Prefet of the Seine has forwarded me your letter and 
requested me to answer it. 

I have the honor to explain to you briefly, as follows, our system of 
organization, in reply to the questions which you have asked in behalf 
of your committee. 

Public Aid in France is not a legal obligation. It is considered a 
moral obligation which creates a duty for the one who exercises it, but 
does not constitute a right for him who receives it. There is one par- 
tial exception to this — the communes * are obliged to pay one fifth of 
the cost of caring for destitute children. But even this obligation 
does not extend to the departments, f 

Poor administration is local. It neither depends upon the general 
government nor upon the commune. But it constitutes in each com- 
mune a special organization. 1. On the one hand there are the 
Bureaus of Benevolence (Bureaux de Bienfaisance) which help the 
poor and the sick at their homes. Of these the Mayor of the Com- 
mune is President and two Municipal Councillors are members 
ex officio. The rest of the members are nominated by the Prefet of 
the Department. | 

2. Further, there are the hospitals which are administered by 
special commissions. These institutions receive and care for, to the 
extent of their means, the sick of the commune, and also non-residents 
who have been taken ill within its bounds. 

Only at Paris are these two departments of help, viz. : Outdoor aid 
and hospitals, united under one administration. 

This administration has at its head a Director nominated by the 
general government. The present incumbent is M. Ernest Peyron. 

The President is assisted by a commission whose functions, how- 
ever, are merely advisory. 

The accompanying pamphlets will give you an idea of the organ- 
ization of our Public Aid in Paris. 

You will find there, specially under the head of outdoor help, 
(Secours a domicile), all the details concerning the distribution of this 
help, together with a list of the officials charged with such distribution 
and of the classes of persons allowed to share in it. 

* Our towns very nearly. 

tOur counties. 

iThis constitution of the Bureaux de Bienfaisance is the outcome of a long and involved 
struggle reaching back to the Kevolution. The central point in the conflict has been the 
amount of influence which the general government should have in these important local con- 
cerns. Translator. 



76 

Following are some additional details as to matters concerning 
which you make particular inquiry. 

The doctor's visit is obtained merely on leaving a request at the 
office of the Secretary of the Bureau de Bienfaisance which is found 
in every mayoralty. It would be refused to any person known to be 
able to pay. 

The sick are admitted to the hospitals either at the consultation 
which takes place every day, at a specified hour, in each hospital, or 
by the central bureau which is at the H6tel-Dieu* and where any 
patient may present himself. They are thereupon directed to the 
various hospitals of the city after the degree and nature of their ail- 
ment has been determined by the staff. 

During their stay at the hospital an investigation is made, and if 
this shows that the patient is in condition to pay he is required to pay 
for every day passed in the institution according to a fixed tariff. 

The city votes an annual subsidy to the Public Aid, and this is dis- 
tributed among the different branches of the administration, and is 
not devoted exclusively to hospitals. The subsidy for 1891 was 
18,084,500 francs (83,616,900) — a sum which represents a little less 
than half of the total amount of the cost of Public Help in Paris. 

The estimates of the number of poor aided during the year 1890. 
and of the expenditures in the different branches of the administration 
will be found in the Statistical Information concerning the pauper 
population, of which I send you a copy. The figures given there do 
not show an abnormal increase of the poor population of Paris. 

As to free help given without supervision outside of institutions, 
with respect to which you ask my opinion, I think that there would be 
a certain danger in making it the basis of a system. I believe, on the 
contrary, that such help should be reserved for cases altogether ex- 
ceptional. 

This administration has at its disposition a special but very limited 
fund which it uses solely for cases of urgency, in which help is treated 
as purely extraordinary and is given immediately. 

Accept, sir. the assurance of my distinguished consideration. 
[Signed], The Director of the General Administration of 

Public Help, 

E. PEYROX. 
To Professor McCook. 

P. S. Paupers are not buried at the public expense, but at that of 
the General Undertaking Company — Compagnie des Pompes fune- 
bres — which has the monopoly of conducting funerals in Paris, and, 

* One of the oldest and largest of the Paris hospitals — dating from the 9th century. 



77 

in consideration thereof, is obliged to provide the city poor with a 
shroud, a wooden coffin, and transportation to the cemetery for their 
dead. In order to obtain this gratuity it is necessary to present a cer- 
tificate of poverty issued by the Mayor or the Police Commissioner of 
the ward. The two pamphlets leave by this mail. 



FROM WILLIAM S. STOKLEY, DIRECTOR DEPARTMENT OF 
PUBLIC SAFETY, PHILADELPHIA. 

Effect of Reducing the Number of Licenses upon the Number 

of Arrests. 

Philadelphia, March 2, 1891. 
Mr. John J. McCook, Chairman. 

Dear Sir, — Your letter of February 28th, addressed to the Director 
relative to the effect of Licenses, etc., was received. 

The reduction of the number of licensed saloons under the high 
license system has materially decreased the number of arrests, as will 
be shown by comparing the reports of former years, and thus de- 
creased the cost of the maintenance of this department. 

The detention of common drunkards, etc., for short imprisonments 
is of great advantage, and works admirably with us. 

Hoping this will answer in some measure your inquiries, 
I am very respectfully, 

HIRAM PORTER, Jr., 

Secretary, Director Public Safety. 

What is meant by "short imprisonments" in the above appears 
from the subjoined. 

House of Correction and Reformation, 
Philadelphia, 3, 4, 1891. 
Prof. Jno. McCook. 

Sir, — In reply to yours of February 28th, would say, that the 
commitments to this institution run from three months to two years, 
at the option of the police magistrates. Our cases are mostly habitual 
drunkards, vagrants, etc. 

The ratio of saloons to the population is not fixed, but the granting 
of license to sell liquor is at the discretion of the three judges of our 
courts, who sit as a license court. 

Respectfully, 

E. A. MERRICK, 

General Superintendent. 



XII. 
FOOD VALUES. 



OPINIO' OF R. B. BIGGS, Ph.D., 

Professor of C7iemistry in Trinity College, and - list. 

Chemical Lab: i 

Haetford, February 10, 1891. 
Professor J. J. McCook, 

f :n Committee on Outdoor Alms. 

Dear Sir, — Your letter of January 26th, enclosing a list of *• . 
cles for necessary support " furnished by the Town in the way of 
"Outdoor Alms." was duly received. You ask the questions: rt What 
proportion of these articles belonging to the category of Foo : 
your opinion, fairly entitled to rank as 'nec~ if, in 

any instai. lee, though not properly styled necessary, yet pos- 

sess an element of value as food, will you please state what the pc s 
of these articles is, from the standpoint of econon 

The list has been examined, and the following is submitted: 

Food is required for two chief purposes, viz.: to generate heat, and 
to produce and maintain the various structures of the body. It must, 
therefore, contain those elements of which the body is composed, and 
in the proportions in which they there e:. 

N single article of food meets these demands, hence the need of a 
mixed diet. Of foods there are two classes — the animal and the 
vegetable, the one supplementing the other, animal foods containing 
an excess of nitrogenous compounds and fats, vegetable foods an ex- 

- : f the carbohydrates (starch, etc.). Bread is in vegetable foods 
what meat is in animal foods. Each contains nearly all the elements 

required for nutrition. For meat we may read its various for: 

meat proper, pork, fish, etc. Bread may be replaced, or better, sup- 
plemented with economy, by such other vegetable foods a3 potatoes, 
beans, peas, etc. Economy and health depend on the proper 
proportioning of these several kinds of food. 

The list of articles has been analyzed on the basis of ti 
and with economy in view, with the following results: 
Necessary and economic articles of food — 



79 



Animal foods. 




Vegetable 


foods 




Bacon, 


$1.26 


Bread, 




$28.65 


Fish, 


7.15 


Flour, 




71 60 


Meat, 


26.65 


Beans, 




7.17 


Pork, 


29.15 


Cabbage, 




4 45 


Milk, 


2.18 


Onions, 




7.32 


Miscellaneous, 


.87 


Potatoes, 
Bice, 




34.28 

8.38 






Miscellaneous, 


9.74 



Articles necessary in pre- 
paring food. 

Pepper, $1.17 

Salt, 1.83 

Yeast, .44 

Baking Powder, 4.06 



$67.26 $171.59 $7.50 

Total for "articles of necessary support," on the basis of economy, 
$246.35. Leaving a balance of $486.19 for articles which either do 
not belong to the "necessary support" category or are valuable but 
expensive nutrients. 

The larger items in this list are the following: 

Canned stuff, 
Butter, 
Coffee, 
Crackers, 



Lard, . 
Molasses, 
Sugar, . 
Tea, . 



Consider this list in detail — 



76.41 


35.97 


24.57 


32.46 


17.33 


11.91 


133.43 


52.41 



$394.31 



Canned goods — are not economical. 

Butter — is expensive, and though a valuable nutrient is not a necessity, the 

elements which it furnishes being more economically provided by some 

of the above listed animal foods. 
Coffee — Nutrient value small ; promotes vital action, but does not support it, 

hence may be highly injurious in its effects if taken with insufficient 

food. 
Crackers — Expensive. 

Eggs — A most valuable but expensive food. 

Lard — As used by the poorer classes, and, indeed, by many others, an un- 
wholesome and expensive article. Its place is better supplied by the 

fat meats. 
Molasses — Not a necessity — see sugar. 
Sugar — A valuable but expensive food. Not a necessity. Foods furnishing 

starch give all that we have in sugar. 
Tea — Remarks on coffee apply equally well in the case of tea. 

The above statements must be taken in the light of the case under 
consideration. The object is to provide for cases of great want, where 
the articles furnished ought to provide the greatest amount of useful 
nourishment at the least cost. 

Very respectfully, R. B. RIGGS. 



80 

XIII. 
BILL OF FARE — HARTFORD ALMSHOUSE 

- : 

Monday. Breakfast — Hash, Coffee, Bread. Dinner — Cold Corned Beef , 
Potatoes, Bread Supper — Tea and Bread. 

Tuesday. Same as Monday. 

Wbdhbsday — s on Mon: 2 -I: ^- dipper — as 

before. 

Teursday. Same as Mono. 

Friday. Br, •altfaat— Fish Hash, Bread, Coffee. Dinner — Boiled Fish, 
Potatoes. Bread, Coffee. - — as before. 

- turd ay. Same as Monday. 

day. Breakfast — Hash. Coffee. Bread. Dinner — Fresh boiled Beef 
Soup. Bread. Coffee. Supper — as before. 

ge tables from the farm in their season. The bread is the best of bakers" 
bread. The sick and infirm are served from the Superintendent s table. 



BILL OF FARE AT CITY ALMSHOUSE. WORCESTER. MASS 

- day. Break;' nt — Coffee, Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Fried Pork or Ham. 
Dinner — Baked Beans and Brown Bread. Supper — Tea, Sugar, Milk, Bread, 
Butter, Doughnuts, Pie or Gingerbread. 

day. Bn.ikf.ut — Coffer - _ Milk, Bread, and Baked Beans. Din- 
ner — Soup and Bread, or Fresh Meat and Potatoes. Supper — Indian Hasty 
Pudding, or Bread and Milk. 

Tuesday. Btmtyut— Coffee, Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Hashed Meat. 
Dinner — Boiled Beef with Pork, Vegetables, and Bread. Supper — Choco- 
late or Tea, with Sugar. Milk, and Bread. 

Wednesday. Breakfast — Coffee, Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Fried Pork or 
Ham. Dinner — Fresh or Sa* :atoes, and Bread. Supper — Bean 

Porridge, or Bread and Butter. 

Thursday. Breakfast— Cov - - ".Ik. Bread, and Hashed Fish. 
Dinner — Boiled Beef and Pork, with Potatoes and Biyad. Supper — Choco- 
late or Tea, with Sugar, Milk, and Bread. 

Friday. Bteatyui—Cattme, Sugar, Milk, Bread, Hashed Meat, or fiat 
Dinner — Salt Fish, Potatoes, and Bread. Supper — Chocolate or Te^ 
Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Butter. 

Saturday. B-eakfast — Coffee. Sugar. Milk. Bread, and Hashed Rah. 
Dinner — Soup and Bread. Supper — Bread and Butter. Tea with Sugar and 
Milk. 



81 



WHITECHAPEL UNION, LONDON, ENGLAND. 

Dietary for Abie-Bodied Paupers. — No. 1.) 





Adults. 


Break- 

PAST. 










D 


NNER 










Su 


n-ER. 


* Days. 




05* 
SB 

u 

6 


Bread. 
Cooked Meat. 


Potatoes or Other 
Vegetables. 

Pea Soup. 


fell 

a 
■5 

~3 

05 
3 
72 


15 

72 


•d 
id 


s 

m 

cd 

1 


= o 
O 


Sunday 

Monday,. . . . 
Tuesday, . . . 
Wednesday,. 
Thursday, . . 

Friday, 

Saturday, . . . 


(Men, 

} Women, . . 

j Men, 

( Women,.. 

j Men 

( Women,.. 

j Men, 

/ Women,. . 

j Men, 

( Women,. . 
j Men,.... 
( Women, . . 
\ Men, .... 
1 Women,.. 


ozs. 

5 
5 

5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 


pints. 

n 

i 

u 

i 

n 

i 

H 

l 

U 

l 

n 

i 

n 

i 





zs. 

4 

4 

4 

4 


OS 


'S. 

5 

4 

5 
4 


oz 
15 
IS 

is 
is 


I 

1 


pints. 

H 

ii 

H 


ozs. 

:■: 

16 
16 

16 
16 


ozs. 

.. 

■• 

24 
20 


ozs 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 


pints. 

H 
H 

ii 


pints. 

ii 

1 

H 
l 

ii 
l 

ii 
1 

li 
1 



Children between 9 and 16 years of age to be allowed the same diet as women. 
Approved by the Local Government Board, January 21, 1882. 

Dietary for Aged and Infirm and Imbecile Paupers. — No. 2.) 



Breakfast. 



Dinner. 



Supper. 



Days. 



Adults. 



£ 



Sunday, 

Monday, 

Tuesday, . . . 
Wednesday, 
Thursday, . . 

Friday, 

Saturday, . . . 



Men, 

Women,. 

Men, 

Women,. 

Men, 

Women,. 

Men, 

Women, . 

Men, 

Women, . 

Men, 

Women,. 

Men, 

W T omen,. 



pints. 



ozs. ozs. 



* 2 

* 3 



i 3 

} 3 

* 3 

\ 2 



•P e 



ozs. pints 



24 
20 



pint. 



82 



The foods in the foregoing Table are to be prepared in accordance with the 
forms hereunto annexed. The sick and infants under 2 years of age 10 be 
dieted under the direction of the medical officer. 

Signed) John Octhwaite. P '.airman. 

I consider the allowances in the above Dietary Table to be sufficient. 

.-.led) Herbert Larder. .V 
The Local Government Board sanction the above Dietary Table. 

Signed Edmond H. Wodehouse. Atrit'-mT Secretary, 

Acting under the authority of the General Order of May 26, 1877 
Local Government Board, December 3, 1886 

This Dietary came into force December 30, 1888. 



Forms Jmr the Preparation .- 



PEA SOUP 



suet pudding. 

Baked or Boiled J 



IRISH STEW. 



Name and 

Description of 

Ineredient. 



Raw Meat. 
Bones 



Una- 
each 
Ineredient 
to a Gallon. 



Name and 

Description of 

Ingredient. 



[or Austra- 
lian Meat 

Split I 
or Scotch 
Barley 

Fresh 

.tables. 



- 
24 


pints. 


8 




32 








6 





Flour. 
Suet, . 



(luarr 

each 
Ingredient 
to a Pound. 

lbs. 



Name and 

Description of 

Ingredient. 



Quantity of 

each 
Ingredient 

- 



To make 24 ozs. 

Raw Meat. . . 

PoUl 

(peeled), 



piits. 



Carrots. ...} 
Onion ; 
Turnips. . . 
etc., 



be 

slightly 

thickened 

with Barley 

or Flour. ) 



EASTERN BRANCH. TOGUB, ME 
NATIONAL HOME FOR DISABLED VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS * 



SUBSISTENCE. 
-e, General Dining HaU. 
Sunday. Broil-fast — Baked Beans and Pork. Boston Brown Bread, White 
Bread, Butter. Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Corned Beef, Potatoes. Turnips. Cab- 
bage or Parsnips or Green Corn. Pickles. Rice or Bread Pudding. Brei 
up. Coffee. Supper — Apple or Prune Pie, Bread. Cheese, Crackers. Butter, 
Sirup 
Monday. Breakfast — Beef Stew : Sausage or I : But- 



! Total cost per week $2 42. all expenses 



83 

ter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Roast Beef or Fresh Pork, Gravy, Green Peas or 
Pickled Beets, Cucumbers or Lima Beans, or Boiled Onions, Potatoes, Bread, 
Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Hominy or Oatmeal Pudding, Crackers, Bread, But- 
ter, Sirup, Tea. 

Tuesday. Breakfast — Meat Hash or Cold Corned Beef, Potatoes, Bread, 
Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Corned Beef or Shoulder, Potatoes, Turnips 
qr, Cabbage or Parsnips or Beet Greens, Rice Pudding, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. 
Supper — Cinnamon Cake or Gingerbread, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. 

Wednesday. Breakfast — Baked Beans and Pork, Boston Brown Bread, 
White Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Mutton Stew or Beef Soup 
with Vegetables, Crackers, Bread, Sirup, Tea. Supper — Bologna or Pigs' 
Tongues or Pigs' Feet, or Prunes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. 

Thursday. Breakfast — Corned Beef Hash or Sausage or Tripe, Potatoes, 
Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Boiled Ham or Shoulder, Potatoes, 
String Beans or Cabbage or Spinach, or Canned Corn, Carrots, Pickles, Bread 
Pudding, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Cold Corned Beef or Peach Sauce, 
Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. 

Friday. Breakfast — Mackerel or Fish Hash or Salt Codfish, Butter, Sauce, 
Potatoes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Baked Fish, Codfish or 
Halibut, Potatoes, Fish or Clam Chowder, Crackers, Bread or Rice Pudding, 
Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Tomatoes, Apple or Prune Sauce, Crackers, 
Hominy, Sirup, Tea. 

Saturday. Breakfast — Corned Beef or Boiled Ham or Beef Fricassee, Po- 
tatoes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Roast Veal or Mutton or Lamb, 
Dressing, Gravy, Green Peas, Potatoes, Bean or Pea Soup, or Mutton Stew, 
Crackers, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Bologna or Head Cheese or Pigs' 
Tongues, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. 

Changes are made in the general dining-hall bill of fare with the seasons. 
The hospital bill of fare is prescribed by the surgeon. 



84 

XIY. 
AUTHORITIES. 



Amelioration de la condition des classes laborieuses et des dosses jfuvres en Bel- 

gique: Dauby; Bruxelles, 1885. 
Annuario Statistico Italiano Rome. 1886. 
Armemerziehungs Anstaltcn, die Schtceizerisehen: "Wellauer u. Muller. Schaff- 

hausen, 1878. 
Arinenyesetzyebiiny Frankvtich* : E. Freiherr v. Reitzenstein. 
Armenpfeye (landliche) u. Urn; Reform: v. Reitzenstein. 
Armenpjfeye, Organisation u. Verbindung der amittihm a. mchtamttichen, in 

Dresden : Bohm e rt . 
Armenpfeye, derm GesebAchUu. Reformbedmfnis : Guth, Heilbronn, 1885. 
Armenpfleger z» Dresden, Geschdfts-Anweisungfur: Kunze, Dresden, 1889. 
Armeniris,,,. Eiiylisc]ie,in seiner Mstoriscken Entwiekek ■••, .• Aschrott; Leipzig, 

1886. 
Armenwesen in 7? dmttschen 8tadten, etc. : Bohmcrt, 3 parts, Dresden, 1886-8. 
Armenwesen >/. Armenrecht: Lasson ; Berlin, 1887. 
Assistance CommunaJU en Franct : Ravarin; Paris, 1885. 
AmsUma puffiqttt etpritet en France, Beffmu et legislation de: Bequet; Paris, 

1885. 
Assistance pubUqut <) Boris, Administration Generate dc: E. Peyron; Paris, 

1889. 
Bureaux de bienfaisance, Code des : Hertogs; Bruxelles, 1887. 
Charity oryanization, Handbook of : Gurteen; Buffalo, 1882. 
Church History: Fuller; 2d ed., 1656. 2 vol. fol. 
Conferena of Charities: Ed. Sanborn, 1877, 1879. 
Connecticut, Acts and Laws of: 1750, (1769). 
" Acts and Laws of : 1784. 

Charter and Laws of: 1702 (1715). 
Laws of: 1673. 
Statutes of: 1808(1796). 

Statutes of: 1813, 1821; 1838; 1849; 1866; 1888. 
Colonial Records of: Cbarles J. Eoadly, xv vols. 
Connecticut Reports, Index-JDigestof: Andrews and Briscoe. 
Connecticut Reports: Decisions of Supreme Court. 
Defective and I)ip< ndi nt dosses, Census of: United States Census, 1880. 
Hospices et bureaux d\ bit nfaisance, Commissions administratives des: Puibaraud, 

Paris, 1881. 
Pauperism* en Suisst : Niederer; Zurich, 1878. 
Pauperisme, Hygiem socicUecontre: Coste ; Paris, 1882. 
Political Economy and Remarks on the Poor-laics: R. "Whately, Archbishop of 

Dublin. 
Poor Laics, Minutes of Evidence before House of Lords; 1831. 
[ History of: Sir George Nicholl, 1854. 
" Extracts from information by H. M. Commissioners; 2 vol., 1833. 

" Report of Commissioners: 1835,1836. 



85 

Poor, State of: Sir F. Eden; 3 vol., 1797. 

Benseignements staUstigues sur la population indigents de Paris: E. Peyron ; 

Paris, 1890. 
Social Science in relation to State Charities: Harrison; Philadelphia, 1877. 
Statesman's Yearbook: Keltic; London, 1891. 
Statistica tietta Emigrazione Italia na : 18S7. 
Statistician, Tin Animal: M'Carty; 188C. 
Verfassung des deutschen Beichs: von RSnne, 1882. 

PAPERS AND MUNICIPAL REPORTS. 

Detroit — House of Correction, 1889, 1890. 
Dresden — Bericht liber das Armenwesen, 1889. 

Hausordnung fur die Stadtische Arbeitsanstalt; 1890. 
Verwaltungsordnimg : von Koppenfels, 1890. 
East Hartford — Selectmen; 1889. 
Ha rtfo rd — Reports of First Selectmen, 1874-1890. 
" Connecticut Hospital for Insane, 1890. 

Hospital and Old People's Home, 1890. 
Municipal Register of, 1890. 

Record of Votes of the Town and of Board of Selectmen in force 
July, 1880. 
" Religious Census of, 1890. 

Neic Haven — Cost of supporting poor compared with other cities: H. C. 
White, 1886. 
Town Agents' Report, 1890. 
We > r London — Municipal Record, 1890. 
Philadelphia— Message (3d) of Mayor E. H. Fitler, 1890. 
Worcester, Mass. — Overseers of the Poor, 1889, 1890. 
County of, 1890. 
City hospital, 1889, 1890. 
Charity organization and the Church : Dr. Van Dyke, 1889. 
Charily, Organization of : papers, etc., Omaha, 1887. 
Charity Organization Society, N. Y. : Central Council of, 1885, 1886, 1887, 

1888, 1889. 
Charity Organization, Profits and Possibilities of: Hon. A. S. Hewitt; 1885. 
Charity— Old and New ; H. L. Wayland, D.D., 1886. 
Elberfeld System: "The Council" ; 1889. 

Humphreys, A T . A. : in Royal Statistical Society; vol. liii. part 2, 1890. 
National Home for disabled Volunteer Soldiers — Board of Managers of; 1891. 
National Home for disabled Volunteer Soldiers — Statutes of the United States 

affecting; 1884. 
Out-door Belief '—to N. Y. legislature, 1884. 
Poor Guardians — Whitechapel Union, 1890. 
Provident Dispensaries — Manchester and Salford branch, 1890. 
Volunteer Visitors among the Poor, Work of: R. T. Paine, 1880. 
Workhouse — Advisability of Establishing, and on Poor relief : New Haven, 1887. 
Workhouse — Mrs. Lowell, 1887. 



APPENDIX B. 



COPY OF EVIDENCE RELATIVE TO 
DR DOHERTY. 



FROM HE>~RY C. WHITE. B8 . 

[Copy.] 

New Ha vex, Coed.. March 14, 1891. 
Prof. John J. McCook, 

H> ft*. 

; — I :he following reply to your favor of the 13th, 

inquiring about J. J. S. Doherty : 

In March. IS So. I was employed by the New Haven Selectmen 
imine the affairs of Doherty, then Registrar of Vil 

My report, which appears of record in the Selectmen's office, 
showed that by illegal charges, false en: he had succeeded 

in collecting from the town nearly $3,000 to which he was not entitled, 
and that he had also collected a large sum from individuals by illegal 
charges. I recommended that he be criminally prosecuted. - 
civil action be instituted to recover the $3,000. and that he be re- 
moved from office. The page of the report containing these recom- 
mendations was torn off. . . . The town declined to prosecute, 
but he was afterwards arrested on charges preferred by me, and when 
the case came up in the :rt Doherty *s demurrer was overruled, 

and he appealed to the Superior Court, where the State's attorney 
never brought it to trial. The civil action was brought, but finally 
settled by the towu. The Selectmen declined to call for Do":. 
resignation until sometime in May. 1SS5, when I took the affidavit 
of a person from whom he had collected an illegal fee abont May 15th. 
and the Selectmen were then driven to ask for the resignation, which 
Doherty. who had retained one of the best lawyers in town, declined to 
hen petitioned tt~ Sc le :men to call a town 
meeting to remove Doherty from office. This brought a proposition 
from Doherty to resign on October 1 st, and I filed that resignation 
with the Selectmen about that time. He received no fees from the 
town after my report was made, nor did the town ever re 
thing for the illegal fees revioosly collected. Doheny's attorney had 



87 

an expert go over all the books, but he did not differ from me in any 
matter of importance. 

I have never doubted the substantial accuracy of my report, which 
was based almost entirely on entries and figures prepared by Doherty 
or his clerk. The comparison of the entries on his own books, with 
the>figures in his report to the State, showed that he had done about 
all that was claimed. 

After he was driven out of office here, he had a position in the In- 
dian Department, where Herbert Welch pursued him for a long time, 
and, I think, finally dislodged him. He will always have some kind 
of an office, probably, and it is probable that he will always be what 
he was here. 

That he deliberately made false entries and charged illegal fees 
when Registrar in New Haven was proved conclusively. I believe Dr. 
Lindsley has already written you of some of the instances which came 
under his notice. Yours respectfully, 

HENRY C. WHITE. 

FROM PROF. C. A. LINDSLEY, M.D. 

[Copy.] 

New Haven, March 15, 1891. 
Prof John J. McCook : 

Dear Sir : — Replying to your favor of March 3d, I have to say : 
In the Summer of 1882 I detected Dr. Doherty, who was then the 
Registrar of New Haven, in the practice of writing and recording- 
fictitious certificates of death, presumably for the purpose of increasing 
his fees. I charged him with it, and he admitted the fact of the ficti- 
tious certificates, alleging some absurd explanation that it was acci- 
dental. Some time afterwards the irregularities of his office became 
so conspicuous and his accounts with the town so suspicious that the 
Selectmen appointed a committee of investigation (of which Mr. Henry 
C. White was a member). This committee made thorough work, going 
through all his records for several years, and reported very impor- 
tant irregularities and defects, and that, so nearly as they could esti- 
mate, he had defrauded the town, by overcharging, to the amount of 
several thousand dollars. He subsequently resigned his office, and no 
legal steps were taken, so far as I know, to recover from him the 
amount which had been overpaid. 

The report of the investigating committee is on file, or on record, 
at the office of the Selectmen in New Haven. I have no doubt it is 
accessible to you for inspection, if you wish to see it. 

Very truly yours, 

C. A. LINDSLEY. 



N 

P. S. At the time Dr. Doherty was the Registrar of New Haven. 
:he Health Officer, and was thus brought into close official rela- 
tions with him. 

Second. One other point I omitted to answer, which 1 do as fol- 
Dohertv was a politician (in its wors and, as such, 

obtained the position of u Jail Physician." On one occasion he sent 
for me to assist him. Upon reaching the jail 1 found that he had 
been torturing a poor prisoner, trying to force a swollen testicle into 
the abdominal cavity. He told me he had been trying for an hour to 
reduce a hernia ! 

FROM THE TOWN Rl NEW HAVEN CONCERNING 

DR. DOHERTY. 

June 9, 1885. A vote was passed asking for his resignation. 
June 30th. Petition from prominent citizens to the Board of 
Selectmen wa- ■. asking that he be removed from his office. 

3 tember 29th. Dr. Doherty s attorney proposed to the Board of 
Selectmen to take, in cancellation of his indebtedness to the tow 
his fees from October 1,18*4 nd that all criminal 

proceedings be withdrawn. 

October 1st. A special meeting to act upon the proposal adjourned 

at action to October 5th. 
October 5, 1 885. At a special meeting, the following was re- 
ceived : "I hereby resign my position as Registrar of Births. Mar- 
riages, and Deaths, of the town of New Haven, the same to take effect 
on the first Monday of October, 1885, and I hereby agree that the 
town may apply whatever is due me. or may hereafter become due 
me, on the claim of the town against me. 

9 -ned] J. J. a DOHBBTY." 
_ ;tion be accepted, to take effect immedia- 
IV he attachment on his property would not be released 

until a final settlement. 

FROM L. H. PEASE. FIRST SELECTMAN. 

[Copy.] 
Office t Selkctmsh » the T wa » Enfieu), 

ipsoxvdlle. Conn., March 17, 1891. 
John J. McCook, 

Hartford, Conn.: 
Dear Sir : — Yours of yesterday is at hand, in which you enquire 
in reference to J. J. S. Doherty, M.D.. formerly of this town, and put 



the following question : " Did he pass with you for a good and com- 
petent physician and a man of integrity ? " I regret that I cannot 
give you a good report. 

Respectfully, L. H. PEASE, 

First Selectman. 

[Copy.] 
Department of the Interior, 

Office of the Secretary, 

Washington, March 11, 1891. 
Sir : — I am directed by the Secretary of the Interior to acknowl- 
edge the receipt of your letter of the 1 Oth instant, requesting certain 
information regarding Dr. J. J. S. Doherty, formerly a physician in 
the Indian service, and to inform you that the same has been referred 
to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

Very respectfully, 

E. M. DAWSON, 
John J. McCook, Esq., Chief Clerk. 

Hartford, Conn. 

[Copy.] 
Department of the Interior, 

Office of Indian Affairs, 

Washington, March 21, 1891. 
John J. McCook, 

Hartford, Conn.: 
Sir: — In reply to your inquiries of the 10th and 18th instants, 
relative to Dr. J. J. S. Doherty, formerly in the Indian service, I have 
to say that the records of this office show that Dr. Doherty was ap- 
pointed physician and clerk at Grande Ronde Agency, Oregon, on 
recommendation of Hon. Charles L. Mitchell, March 1, 1886, and en- 
tered on duty April 14, 1886. In relation to the manner in which he 
left the service, and the cause therefor, I quote the following from a 
letter written to the Secretary of the Interior on February 28, 1887, 
by Hon. J. D. C. Atkins, who was then Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs : 

"It is stated that Dr. J. J. Doherty, who was appointed by me to 
be an Agency Physician, was unworthy to hold that position, for the 
reason that he had been guilty of malfeasance in office as Registrar of 
Vital Statistics in Connecticut ; that the Association presented a full 
statement of the facts to this Department, and succeeded, after months 
of delay, in securing the Doctor's removal ; thus implying, that this 
Department persisted, in the face of a full knowledge otan employee's 



SUMMARY DR. MORRISSEY'S ACCOUNT BY YEARS. 

Instruments, Books, Supplies, Etc. 



1.00 
4.25 

23.50 

13.00 



$41.75 



15.10 
21.05 
16.50 
11.65 



Whole I Tnstn 



$75.1 



102.54 
246.46 
174.86 
167.47 



Whole | tnstru 



Whole Instr 



Whole Inslru- | Whole 



17.60 

5.70 
15.75 



$7.75 

17.39 

8.65 



mi! ;r, 

42.00 

46.25 



$403.00 $33.79 



75.70 
84.73 
72.85 
80.65 



5.15 
10.75 
11.13 

6.15 



23.06 
29.26 

25.30 



12.00 
'466 



42.4!) 
67 30 
25.04 

56.65 



$56.' 



66.06 I 14.50 

95 14 

72 34 j 58.25 

85.26 I 10.15 



$18.50 
4.50 



$318.80 $82.90 



.75 $25.00 
13.05 



$5.00 



27.00 
14.64 
20.75 
5.67 



$68. ( 



si. 3!) 



$64.! 



